Game 4: Boston Bruins @ Ottawa Senators Lines, Preview

Here’s your Boston Hockey Now Boston Bruins Game Day Preview:

Boston Bruins @ Ottawa Senators

TIME: 7 P.M. ET, Canadian Tire Centre

TV: NESN, RDS, TSN5

Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub

The Boston Bruins could be walking into a hornet’s nest tonight in Ottawa when they play the Senators in their home opener on Tuesday night.

While the Bruins beat a preseason Stanley Cup contender 5-3 in the Florida Panthers, and will take the ice in Ottawa against another Atlantic Division rival with a 3-0-0 record and atop the division, there is still plenty of work to be done. On more than one occasion during his postgame presser Monday night, Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery made it clear that despite the win and the Bruins now scoring 16 goals with 12 different goal scorers, he was far from satisfied. When asked about the danger of playing another preseason darling but so far, underwhelming Senators squad on the tail end of a back-to-back, Montgomery didn’t hold back.

“I’m worried about [tonight], I was worried about [tonight] yesterday,” Montgomery replied bluntly. “They’re sitting at home; they played two on the road, they haven’t won. I know their coach [D.J. Smith]. He’s a good coach and he’s going to have them ready to go. So we have to be much better than we were tonight.”

This could serve as the Bruins’ real big test this season as they try to overcome fatigue and sloppiness in their own end against, dare we say a desperate team trying to right a ship many expected would sail into the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

Boston Bruins Notes

-Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman will make his second start of the season after stopping 21 of 24 shots in the 6-3 Bruins win over the Arizona Coyotes.

-With four different goal scorers against the Panthers on Monday, the Bruins now have 12 different goal scorers: Patrice Bergeron (2), Jake DeBrusk (2), David Pastrnak (2), A.J. Greer (2), David Krejci, Nick Foligno, Pavel Zacha, Charlie Coyle, Hampus Lindholm, Trent Frederic, Derek Forbort and Taylor Hall have all lit the lamp.

-Brandon Carlo (upper body) is out with no timetable on his return after taking a hit in Saturday night’s win over the Coyotes.

Ottawa Senators Notes

-As mentioned above, this will be the 2022-23 home opener for the Ottawa Senators and it’s expected to be their first sellout crowd in five years. As Smith said, the onus is on his team to reward the fans’ faith and deliver on expectations.

“It’s supposed to be the biggest crowd in the last five years, that’s great for our guys,” Smith said on Monday. “We played a full year without fans and now we’ve got a sold out building. We’re going to give them an absolute effort!”

-The Senators will have plenty of new faces in the lineup since the last time they faced the Boston Bruins. General Manager Pierre Dorion was a busy man on the NHL trade and free agent market this offseason, bringing in marquee players like Ottawa’s native son Claude Giroux (free agency), and Alex DeBrincat (trade with Blackhawks).

-Unlike the Bruins, who have been getting offense from all over the lineup, only three Senators, Giroux, Shane Pinto and captain Brady Tkachuk have scored this season.

-Anton Forsberg will get the nod between the pipes for the Sens. He has allowed five goals on 61 shots so far and took the loss in the Senators’ first two games.

Boston Bruins Lineup:

Forwards

Taylor Hall-Patrice Bergeron-Jake DeBrusk

Pavel Zacha-David Krejci-David Pastrnak

Trent Frederic-Charlie Coyle-A.J. Greer

Nick Foligno-Tomas Nosek-Craig Smith

Defense:

Hampus Lindholm-Mike Reilly

Derek Forbort-Connor Clifton

Jakub Zboril-Dan Renouf

Goalies:

Jeremy Swayman

Linus Ullmark 

Ottawa Senators Lineup:

Forwards:

Brady Tkachuk-Tim Stuetzle-Drake Batherson

Alex DeBrincat-Josh Norris-Claude Giroux

Tyler Motte-Shane Pinto-Mathieu Joseph

Parker Kelly-Mark Kastelic-Austin Watson

Defensemen:

Thomas Chabot-Artem Zub

Jake Sanderson-Travis Hamonic

Erik Brannstrom-Nikita Zaitsev

Goalies

Anton Forsberg

Magnus Hellberg