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Senators-Bruins Preview

Nov 27, 2009 - 10:07 PM By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA STATS Senior Writer

Ottawa (13-7-3) at Boston (12-8-4), 7:00 p.m. EDT

Even with Anton Volchenkov and Mike Fisher, Ottawa has had a hard time beating the Boston Bruins. Still, the Senators are certainly looking forward to getting the duo back.

The Senators, hoping to have their best defenseman and one of their top scorers on the ice, look to snap a five-game road losing streak against the Bruins on Saturday night in a matchup for first place in the Northeast Division.

Ottawa (13-7-3) has won five of six and is in a first-place tie with Boston (12-8-5) despite being hampered by injuries.

Prior to their 2-1 victory over Columbus on Thursday night, the Senators announced they will be without right wing Chris Neil for two weeks because of a knee injury suffered the previous evening in a 3-1 loss at New Jersey.

Brian Elliott had 32 saves against the Blue Jackets in his third straight start in place of Pascal Leclaire, who is out for at least a month with a broken jaw.

The Senators, though, may get some help, with Volchenkov (elbow) and Fisher (upper-body injury) close to returning. Ottawa has missed Volchenkov on the blue line the past 13 games while Fisher, second on the team with 10 goals, has been out the last two.

"We'll see how (Saturday) morning goes," coach Cory Clouston told the Senators' official Web site.

Fisher had a goal and an assist at home against the Bruins on Oct. 24 as the Senators lost 4-3 in a shootout, their 10th defeat in 12 games (2-8-2) versus Boston. The Senators have been outscored 21-8 in dropping five in a row on the road to the Bruins since a 3-2 win Dec. 18, 2007.

Ottawa blew a 3-1 lead with 1:28 remaining in regulation last month against Boston. Alex Kovalev took one shot and was held off the scoresheet despite seeing more ice time than any other Senators forward.

Kovalev had an assist against the Blue Jackets after missing the previous three games to attend to his mother-in-law's funeral in Russia.

Erik Karlsson, who was sent to Binghamton of the AHL after facing the Bruins, was recalled Friday. The 19-year-old defenseman, Ottawa's first-round pick in 2008, had 11 assists in his last 12 games with Binghamton and had three in nine with the Senators before being sent down.

Milan Lucic played four games for Boston after missing 14 with a fractured finger but limped off the ice in Wednesday night's 2-1 shootout win over Minnesota. He will miss up to a month with a sprained left ankle.

Without one of their emotional leaders, the Bruins had a four-game winning streak snapped in a 2-1 shootout loss to New Jersey on Friday.

"Hopefully this is the last of his injuries this year," coach Claude Julien said. "It was just a rut in the ice and his foot went the wrong way."

Lucic has 27 goals and 47 assists in two-plus seasons while also racking up 238 penalty minutes. Boston, though, didn't need Lucic to beat Ottawa last month, getting third-period goals from Mark Recchi and David Krejci.

Blake Wheeler scored the Bruins' first goal in that game but missed in the shootout. He notched Boston's only goal in regulation and in the tiebreaker Friday.

Wheeler, however, has been held off the scoresheet in his last three home games.