Game 34: Boston Bruins @ Ottawa Senators Lines, Preview

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

Boston Bruins (27-4-2, 56 pts) @ Ottawa Senators (14-16-3, 31 pts)

TIME: 7 P.M. ET

TV: NESN, Sportsnet

Radio: 98.5 The Sports Hub

The Boston Bruins come out of the Christmas break on the road again after ending their pre-holiday break with a Friday night win over the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center. Pastrnak scored a pair of goals and Linus Ullmark had 37 saves while leading the Boston Bruins to a one-goal win that also served as a fitting exclamation point for their first three months of work leading into the Christmas holiday.

“I think there’s a lot honestly,” said Jake DeBrusk, when asked to describe the difference as to why this season’s Bruins have been rolling. “Everybody is just playing for each other. It’s something that sounds cliché, but if you also look at what our guys have for statistics everybody is doing very well.

“It’s one of those things where there are a few guys that are going for career highs. It’s a hard league to have that kind of production throughout the lineup, but when you have it that makes you a really tough team to beat. Especially [it’s true] when the top guys are going. You just have threats on all the different lines. It’s still early in the season and we have a veteran group, and we’re not getting all Christmas jolly. But we’re happy with our record, that’s for sure.”

If there’s anybody that’s done enough to be “Christmas jolly” it would be the Boston Bruins after heading into the holiday break leading the NHL with 56 points, and a plus-56 goal differential that’s almost twice as good as the NHL’s next best team, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

They’ll get to show they didn’t lose any oomph whatsoever coming out of a three-day break when they hit the road to face the lowly Ottawa Senators, one of the only teams that’s actually dealt them a regulation loss this season.

Boston Bruins Notes

-Bruins winger David Pastrnak is riding a 11-game point streak with 10 goals and five assists over that span. Pastrnak finished off the pre-holiday break schedule with a two-goal explosion in the second period that led the Bruins to a 4-3 win over the New Jersey Devils.

David Pastrnak. Sheeeeesh pic.twitter.com/UtCoi7aye2

— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) December 24, 2022

–The Boston Bruins sure sound refreshed coming out of the holiday break ready to take on the world after getting three days away from the rink.

“It’s nice to have some time to shut it off to feel a little refreshed…really to just take your mind off the game. It’s nice to enjoy the company of others,” said Charlie McAvoy.

-Craig Smith is back in the Boston Bruins lineup coming out of the break, and AJ Greer will be a healthy scratch for the Black and Gold.

–Jeremy Swayman will be the starting goaltender for the Bruins after he stopped 25-of-27 shots that he faced in a 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets last Thursday where he played a really good hockey game between the pipes.

Ottawa Senators Notes:

-The Ottawa Senators defeated the Bruins in their home opener at the Canadian Tire Center back in October and were talking about it this morning as they prepared for Tuesday night’s game.

“It was awesome, I hadn’t played in front of a crowd like that before,” said Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson. “When the fans are in it the players are in it more too. It just gets everything amped up.”

-Tyler Motte is out for the Ottawa Senators with a finger injury and will be a week-to-week injury for the Senators forward. Rourke Chartier (upper body) is also out for the next couple of games for the Senators. Erik Brannstrom (lower body) has begun skating with an eye toward returning but won’t be playing on Tuesday against Boston. Mathieu Joseph attempted to skate and isn’t ready to go, so he’ll be out for at least another week of action.

-Jacob Lucchini has been recalled by the Senators with a number of injuries to their forward group and is expected to play Tuesday night against the Bruins.

-Drake Batherson has been a hot player for the Senators with seven goals and 14 points in 11 games during the month of December, but he’s also been an eye-popping minus-7 this month while putting up those big numbers.

Boston Bruins Lineup:

Forwards

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Jake DeBrusk

Pavel Zacha-David Krejci-David Pastrnak

Taylor Hall-Charlie Coyle-Trent Frederic

Nick Foligno-Tomas Nosek-Craig Smith

Defense:

Hampus Lindholm-Charlie McAvoy

Matt Grzelcyk-Brandon Carlo

Derek Forbort-Connor Clifton

Goalies:

Jeremy Swayman

Linus Ullmark

Ottawa Senators Lineup:

Forwards

Brady Tkachuk-Tim Stutzle-Claude Giroux

Alex DeBrincat-Shane Pinto-Drake Batherson

Derick Brassard-Mark Kastelic-Austin Watson

Parker Kelly-Dylan Gambrell-Jacob Lucchini

Defense

Thomas Chabot-Nikita Zaitsev

Jake Sanderson-Travis Hamonic

Dillon Heatherington-Nick Holden

Goalies

Cam Talbot

Anton Forsberg