Senators 1 - 0 Bruins
Final
  for this game

Sens hope to close the gap with first-place Bruins

Feb 28, 2012 - 3:58 PM (Sports Network) - The Ottawa Senators will get another chance to close the gap in the race for the Northeast Division title when they visit the first- place Boston Bruins tonight at TD Garden.

The Senators hosted Boston on Saturday with a shot at pulling within one point of the Bruins for first place in the Northeast, but the defending Stanley Cup champions notched a 5-3 road victory to extend its lead atop the division to five points. Ottawa recorded a home win Sunday against the New York Islanders to cut Boston's first-place lead to three points.

Patrice Bergeron tallied twice and added one assist to lift the Bruins to the win at Scotiabank Place. It was the second win in three games for Boston, which has compiled a sub-par 5-6-1 record in February.

David Krejci, Brad Marchand and Carter Camper also scored for the B's on Saturday and Tim Thomas made 27 saves for the win.

"We controlled the play," said Thomas. "We were strong on the puck and that was helpful."

Daniel Alfredsson scored a pair of late goals for the Senators, who had a four-game win streak snapped by the Bruins. Alex Auld allowed four goals on 37 shots in the loss.

Boston has dominated the Senators lately, winning eight straight meetings in this series, including all four encounters this season. The Bruins have also won their last four home tests against Ottawa.

Ottawa rebounded against the Isles on Sunday, as Chris Neil and Kyle Turris posted a goal and an assist apiece in the 5-2 rout. Milan Michalek, Jason Spezza and Jim O'Brien scored and Erik Karlsson and Nick Foligno added two assists for the Senators. Robin Lehner made 28 saves in the win.

It's unclear who will get the start in net for Ottawa tonight. Regular No. 1 goaltender Craig Anderson is sidelined indefinitely with a lacerated pinky finger on his right hand, leading the Sens to recall Lehner from the team's AHL affiliate in Binghamton. Ottawa also traded for a goaltender on Sunday, acquiring Ben Bishop from the Blues in exchange for a second-round draft pick in 2013, but Bishop was sent down to Binghamton on Monday.

The Bruins pulled off a couple of trades before Monday's deadline. Boston acquired veteran forward Brian Rolston and defenseman Mike Mottau from the New York Islanders for forward Yannick Riendeau and defenseman Mark Cantin. The B's also swapped defensemen with Minnesota, sending Steve Kampfer to the Wild for Greg Zanon.

Ottawa also picked up a new defenseman on Monday, as they dealt blueliner Brian Lee to Tampa Bay for Matt Gilroy.

Boston is 18-10-2 as the host this season, while Ottawa is 16-11-5 as the guest. The clubs will meet once more during the regular season on April 5 in Ottawa.






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