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Bruins aim to wrap perfect road trip against Senators

Mar 1, 2011 - 4:05 PM (Sports Network) - The Boston Bruins will try to complete a perfect six-game road trip tonight, when they visit the Ottawa Senators for a Northeast Division battle at Scotiabank Place.

Boston has won five straight overall and each of those wins have come on the club's longest road trip of the season. Thanks in part to the current trek, the division-leading Bruins are boasting a superb 21-7-4 road record this season.

The Bruins have 79 points on the year and have extended their lead atop the Northeast to six points over second-place Montreal. Ottawa, meanwhile, is last in the Eastern Conference and is 28 points behind Boston in the standings.

Boston's most recent victory came Sunday in Edmonton, as Rich Peverley notched the game-winning score late in the second period to lead the Bruins to the 3-2 decision at Rexall Place.

Michael Ryder and Nathan Horton also tallied for the Bruins, while Tuukka Rask got the win despite making just 15 saves.

"When we play good defensively, that's when we play our best hockey," Ryder said. "We take away the other team's speed, and we knew the Oilers tonight have a lot of speed up front. If we limit that we'll stop their chances."

Boston's No. 1 netminder Tim Thomas is expected to be back between the pipes tonight. Thomas picked up a win against the NHL-leading Vancouver Canucks on Saturday and the veteran backstop is 2-1 with a 0.67 goals-against average in three games against the Senators this season.

The Bruins have taken three of four from Ottawa this year and can win the six- game season series tonight. Boston has claimed seven of 10 overall from the Sens and the B's have won five straight and eight of nine in Canada's capital city.

Ottawa made a few moves on Monday, including brokering a deal with Chicago before the NHL's trade deadline. The Senators sent defenseman Chris Campoli to the Blackhawks and acquired forward Ryan Potulny and a conditional second- round pick.

The Senators also announced Monday that they signed defenseman Chris Phillips to a three-year extension that will keep him in Ottawa through the 2013-14 season.

Ottawa also claimed goaltender Curtis McElhinney off waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Senators have won three of their last four games and shocked the Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. Erik Condra scored his first two NHL goals, including what proved to be the game-winner, as Ottawa came back to stun the visiting Flyers, 4-1.

Phillips and Nick Foligno also potted goals for the Senators, while Craig Anderson turned away 30 shots, including 14 in the first period, to earn the win. Anderson is 3-1-0 with a 1.23 GAA since coming over in a trade with Colorado.

The Senators were outshot 15-3 by Philadelphia in the first period, but the Flyers only managed one goal in the opening 20 minutes.

"It was a real solid effort," Ottawa head coach Cory Clouston. "Craig was there for us when we had a real tough first period. We looked a little bit, I don't want to say in awe, but tentative. We were waiting to see what kind of game they would bring instead of dictating. We addressed that after the first period and made it much more difficult for them in the last two periods."

Ottawa has won its last two home games, but is still just 11-16-5 as the host this season.