BOSTON — The Bruins will look to snap out of their early-season slump Tuesday night, but it won't be easy against a red-hot Ottawa club that comes in having won six straight games.
"We've got to come and play with some energy here," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "The team that we're playing right now has lots of it. They're not perfect, they make mistakes, but because of the energy that they play with, they're able to back each other up and certainly make it a game and that's why they've won six in a row now."
The Bruins, meanwhile, have lost three in a row and are just 3-7-0 overall this season. Not much has gone right for the defending champs so far this year, and turning that around will take some effort. The kind of effort that's been lacking in far too many of the Bruins' games this season.
"We just have to come and play with a little bit more energy than we have in both directions and the only way to get out of these kinds of things is based on a work ethic," Julien said. "We're not as good as we think we are and we're not as bad as we seem. So what has to happen is pick up our work ethic here, be ready to work hard and grind it out and hopefully work harder than the other team and along the way you hope that you get a couple of breaks, get that lead that you're looking for all the time and hold on to it."
The Bruins tried to preserve some extra energy for Tuesday night by holding just an optional skate in the morning. Only goalie Tuukka Rask, defenseman Steven Kampfer and forward Benoit Pouliot took the ice. That would appear to indicate that Tim Thomas will get the start in goal and Kampfer and Pouliot will be the scratches. Pouliot missed Saturday's game in Montreal with an illness, but will be a healthy scratch if he does not play in this one. Kampfer has been scratched the last two games since Adam McQuaid returned from a neck injury.
Thomas has enjoyed plenty of success against the Senators. He is 19-8-2 in his career against Ottawa, with a 1.91 GAA, a .938 save percentage and six shutouts. That's triple the number of shutouts he has against any other opponent. Last year, Thomas was 3-1-0 with an 0.75 GAA,. .976 save percentage and two shutouts against Ottawa.
Despite Boston's struggles at the start of this season, the Senators aren't about to take the Bruins lightly, and they certainly aren't about to forget what the Bruins accomplished last year.
"We shouldn't have to remind them of that because we are playing the Stanley Cup champs," Ottawa coach Paul MacLean said. "As soon as you walk into the building you look at the press notes and the banners and it all says Stanley Cup champions, and it's very well-deserved. No matter what their record, they're still the Stanley Cup champions and we know we're going to get a good game and we know we have to be at our best to have an opportunity to win tonight."
Craig Anderson is expected to start in goal for Ottawa. He is 6-2-0 this season but has just a 3.66 GAA and an .881 save percentage.
Brian Lee will sit out his seventh straight game as a healthy scratch on defense for the Senators. Up front, captain Daniel Alfredsson did not travel with the team as he remains sidelined with a concussion suffered from a head shot by New York Rangers forward Wojtek Wolski on Saturday. He is expected to be out at least a week.
Mike Hasenfratz and Ian Walsh will be the referees, with Pierre Champoux and Bryan Pancich working the lines.
Projected Bruins lines
Forwards
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Tyler Seguin
Jordan Caron-Chris Kelly-Rich Peverley
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton
Defense
Zdeno Chara-Dennis Seidenberg
Andrew Ference-Johnny Boychuk
Joe Corvo-Adam McQuaid
Goalies
Tim Thomas
Tuukka Rask
Scratches: Benoit Pouliot, Steven Kampfer
Projected Senators lines
Forwards
Milan Michalek-Jason Spezza-Colin Greening
Nick Foligno-Stephane Da Costa-Bobby Butler
Erik Condra-Zack Smith-Chris Neil
Nikita Filatov-Zenon Konopka-Jess Winchester
Defense
Erik Karlsson-Filip Kuba
David Rundblad-Chris Phillips
Sergei Gonchar-Jared Cowen
Goalies
Craig Anderson
Robin Lehner
Scratches: Daniel Alfredsson (concussion), Brian Lee
