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Bruins welcome Senators to TD Garden

Apr 9, 2011 - 2:43 PM (Sports Network) - The Northeast Division champion Boston Bruins will continue to fight for the second seed in the Eastern Conference when they host the Ottawa Senators today at TD Garden.

The Bruins are currently third in the East and can fall no further than that in the conference standings. However, Boston has two games left in the regular season to catch the second-seeded Philadelphia Flyers, who are three points ahead of the Bruins and are hosting the New York Islanders in their final game of the year tonight.

Boston has won two of its last three games and has suffered just one regulation loss over its previous six tests (4-1-1).

The Bruins last played on Wednesday and were able to record a close regulation win over the visiting Islanders as Gregory Campbell notched the winner early in the second period to help lift Boston to a 3-2 victory.

Shawn Thornton and Dennis Seidenberg also scored for the Bruins, while Tim Thomas made 30 saves to earn his 34th win of the season.

It's unclear if Thomas or backup netminder Tuukka Rask will get the start today, as the Bruins are playing the first of back-to-back games and will complete the regular season Sunday in New Jersey.

Thomas would set an NHL record for save percentage if he is held out of action in Boston's final two games. He currently has a save percentage of .938, edging out the .937 mark Buffalo's Dominik Hasek had during the 1997-98 season. Even with that record on the line, it would be surprising if Thomas didn't start at least one of Boston's games this weekend.

Boston has a 21-13-6 record as the host this year and is playing its final regular-season test at TD Garden. Of course, the Bruins will open next week's playoffs on home ice.

The Bruins have won four out of five against Ottawa this year and have dominated the Sens in recent years, taking eight of 11 and 15 of the last 19 encounters between the clubs. The Senators have also dropped seven out of 10 in Beantown.

Ottawa has taken to the spoiler role recently, winning three of its last four games. As a result, the Senators are no longer last in the Eastern Conference, as that spot is now occupied by the Florida Panthers.

The Senators have recorded consecutive home wins over playoff-bound teams, notching a 5-2 win over Philadelphia on Tuesday before posting an overtime win Thursday against Montreal.

Filip Kuba's wrister from the right-point resulted in the game-winner just 1:16 into overtime.

Jason Spezza and Bobby Butler also scored for the Senators, while Craig Anderson made 27 stops for the victory. Anderson is 11-5-1 with a 2.05 goals- against average since coming over to Ottawa in a trade with Colorado.

Today's test marks the final game of the season for the Senators and they are sporting a 16-19-5 mark as the road club.