I guess we should have seen it coming.
The Boston Bruins have been one of the league's hottest teams and continued their winning ways with a convincing 5-2 win over the Senators in front of just over 18,000 fans at Scotiabank Place.
As is so often the case when these two teams meet, Tim Thomas was the difference for the Bruins. The Sens peppered Thomas with quality chances in the early going but just couldn't find a way to get one by him. Then at the other end, Rich Peverley buried the Bruins first decent shot on goal and you could just tell it was going to be one of those nights.
To their credit, and according to script for the Sens this year, they refused to quit. Daniel Alfredsson tied the game for the home side but an old friend took the lead back before the period was out. Kelly's goal was his 12th of the season.
Ottawa had their chances early in the third but again Thomas was there to shut the door. Two defensive miscues later and the Senators were in a hole they could not dig out of. The Sens dominated on the shot clock (49-29) but Thomas was at his best. The loss drops the Sens to 14-14-4 on the season but still just one point out of that final playoff spot.
Another strong night for Jason Spezza in this one.
He picked up two more points and is now up to 32 points on the season. The fact that Spezza has been able to stay at a point per game pace despite having had so many different plays skate on his wings this season is a testament to just how good he has been this year. He is going to have to keep that up if the Sens are going to stay in the mix.
- Spoke with a couple people about the Milan Michalek injury last night and the consensus seems to be it's not serious. Apparently he was suffering minor headaches after the collision with Karlsson so the Sens wanted to be cautious and understandably so. MacLean said Michalek felt much better the next day which is a great sign.
- The Sens are also hoping to get one of Sergei Gonchar or Filip Kuba back on Friday. Would not be surprised to see David Rundblad come out of the line up. The addition of Gonchar or Kuba would certainly help the Sens power play.
- Mentioned this on Twitter last night but expect the Sens to make a formal announcement about the new scoreboard tomorrow. The hope is to have it installed over the Christmas break which means fans will see it for the first time on December 27th when the Montreal Canadiens are in town.
- The Sens will practice today at noon ahead of tomorrow's match up with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Should have a better idea on the status of Gonchar and Kuba later this afternoon.
