Another game, this time in Canada!

Just the facts

When: Tonight, 7 PM

Where: Canadian Tire Centre – Kanata, ON

How to follow: NESN, 98.5 The Sports Hub

Opposing perspective: Silver Seven Sens

Know your enemy

• 18-24-1, 37PTS, last in the Atlantic Division
• Tim Stützle: 10G-34A-44PTS; Claude Giroux: 14G-26A-40PTS; Brady Tkachuk: 19G-18A-37PTS
• Joonas Korpisalo: 10-15-1, 3.47 GAA, .889 save percentage

Game notes

• No time to dwell on home failures! The Bruins are right back at it tonight, visiting the Ottawa Senators for the first time this season in scenic Kanata, Ontario.
• Much like the Buffalo Sabres, this was supposed to be The Year for Ottawa to take a big step forward. It hasn’t panned out, with the Senators firmly rooted to the Atlantic basement, seven points behind those same Sabres (though Ottawa has four games in hand).
• Ottawa has some pretty decent firepower in its lineup, boasting the league’s 10th best offense in terms of GF/G. Tim Stützle continues his progression into an elite player, while the Sens have also gotten good production from guys like Drake Batherson, Vladimir Tarasenko, and the trade rumor mainstay, Jakob Chychrun.
• What hasn’t worked for Ottawa? Just about everything else. Their power play (24th) is bad. Their penalty kill (29th) is bad. Their team defense and goaltending (30th) are bad.
• You can do a chicken-and-egg thing as to whether they’re the problem or team defense is to blame (or both, I guess), but all three goalies on Ottawa’s roster sport GAAs over 3.3 and save percentages under .900, so…yeah.
• For the Bruins, we should expect some lineup rotation with the game last night. For the Carolina game, it was Oskar Steen in for Matt Poitras and Keven Shattenkirk in for Parker Wotherspoon. It remains to be seen if it’ll be an even swap tonight.
• Jeremy Swayman will start in net for the B’s.
• Shane Pinto, who recently returned from his somewhat mysterious gambling-related suspension, has gotten off to a decent start for the Senators, recording a goal and an assist in two games.
• While Ottawa is still a somewhat uneven 4-5-1 in their last ten games, they’ve been a bit better of late: they’re 3-0-1 in their last four, with the OT loss coming against the hot Winnipeg Jets.
• That loss to the Jets was, somewhat strangely, Ottawa’s first OT or shootout loss on the season. They are tied with Nashville, Edmonton, and Anaheim for the lowest mark in the league.

See ya tonight!