Time to get back to work.
After four days off to rest a banged up roster, the Ottawa Senators continue a difficult month of December with a home and home against the surprising Boston Bruins. First game goes tonight at the Canadian Tire Centre with the rematch scheduled for Tuesday in Boston.
This Bruins team has to be considered one of the most surprising in the Eastern Conference. After a bizarre off season, it looked like this was going to be a rebuild year for the Bruins but that certainly hasn’t been the case through the first 34 games of the season. The Bruins are 19-11-4 including an insanely good 11-2-2 record on the road. They also sit 3rd on the league in goals per game at 3.09 a night.
We talked about it a lot before the break but the Atlantic Division is ridiculously tight right now.
The Montreal Canadiens are in a free fall right now and in the process have opened the door for the rest of the division. The Senators are just three points out of the top spot and two points back of the Bruins. And while the Senators want to keep looking up, there are also a handful of teams approaching quickly from behind too. The Sens hold the second wild card spot but there are four teams within three points.
This morning, the Senators announced they have recalled forward Max McCormick from Binghamton of the American Hockey League. That means that forward Curtis Lazar, who was injured before the break, won’t be available tonight. Bobby Ryan was at practice yesterday and is expected to play. No sign of Cody Ceci though. He’s considered doubtful for tonight’s game.
Here’s how Dave Cameron will line up his team for this one.
Smith-Turris-Stone
Hoffman-Zibanejad-Ryan
Dziurzynski-Pageau-Chiasson
Prince-McCormick-Neil
Methot-Karlsson
Wiercioch-Wideman
Cowen-Borowiecki
Craig Anderson gets the start in the Ottawa goal. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 5:00 PM.
