Bruins Live Blog: Anton Khudobin Delivers Memorable Debut as B’s Beat Senators 3-1 in Ottawa

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Apr 5, 2012

Bruins Live Blog: Anton Khudobin Delivers Memorable Debut as B's Beat Senators 3-1 in OttawaFinal, Bruins 3-1: The Bruins take an impressive 3-1 win in Ottawa as Anton Khudobin shines in his Bruins debut.

He made 44 saves for the victory, which was the Bruins' fifth in six contests against Ottawa this season.

The win does put the chances for the clubs to meet in the opening round of the playoffs in some jeopardy though. Ottawa now needs to get at least a point in its final game Saturday at New Jersey or for Washington to lose Saturday against the Rangers to stay in seventh and face Boston. If the Senators lose and Washington wins, the Bruins could face the Capitals instead. Unless, of course,  Florida also loses in regulation to Carolina, which would give Washington the Southeast Division title and the third seed, and keep Ottawa in seventh with Florida dropping all the way to eighth.

Boston reaches 100 points with the victory despite sitting Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron and Tim Thomas out of this one. They close out the season Saturday at the Garden against the Sabres, who were eliminated with a loss to Philadelphia on Thursday.

Third Period, 18:59, Bruins 3-1: The Senators will be shorthanded again as coach Paul MacLean picks up an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty complaining from the bench about an icing call against Ottawa. MacLean was also given a game misconduct.

Third Period, 18:23, Bruins 3-1: The sides are back to 5 on 5, but Ottawa remains up an attacker as they pulled Bishop during the 4 on 4 and the net remains empty with less than two minutes to play.

Third Period, 16:23, Bruins 3-1: Things get heated with a scrum in the Ottawa zone. Andrew Ference actually appeared willing to go with Matt Carkner, but the linesmen stepped in. Both get two minutes for roughing and it will be 4 on 4 action.

Third Period, 15:27, Bruins 3-1: The Bruins get a little breathing room as Milan Lucic scores a late insurance goal.

David Krejci carried the puck down the left wing and dropped it to Lucic in the slot, and Lucic ripped a quick wrister in. Torey Krug gets the secondary assist for his first NHL point.

Third Period, 13:11, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins fail to convert that power play as well, and are lucky to still by one as Erik Karlsson somehow missed a wide-open net from the left slot on a shorthanded bid.

Third Period, 11:11, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins will get a chance for an insurance goal with a late power play as Kyle Turris goes off for two minutes for high-sticking.

Third Period, 10:53, Bruins 2-1: The hitting is picking up, with Jordan Caron nailing Matt Carkner, then Chris Phillips decking Benoit Pouliot.

Third Period, 8:40, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins kill off that penalty, with Khudobin continuing to shine with three more big saves during that power play.

Third Period, 6:40, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins will be shorthanded again as Shawn Thornton is called for delay of game after sending the puck out of play over the glass.

Third Period, 1:53, Bruins 2-1: Ottawa heavyweight Matt Carkner goes out of his way to deliver a big hit on David Krejci, but Krejci is unfazed and comes right back with a hit on Carkner in front of the benches later in the shift.

Third Period, 0:00, Bruins 2-1: The final frame is under way in Ottawa, where the Bruins will look to close out the win in their final road game of the season.

Second Intermission Notes: Anton Khudobin remains the story in this one. He finally gave up a goal, but he's also stopped 33 shots through 40 minutes.

The Senators have attempted 61 shots already to just 29 for the Bruins. Boston's defense has helped Khudobin with 16 blocked shots. Greg Zanon has nine of those already, while Ottawa has just six as a team. Zanon is turning in a strong all-around game. His first goal as a Bruin is the difference right now, and he has two shots, a hit and is a plus-2 in 14:11.

There is some concern on the blue line though. Adam McQuaid, in his first game back after missing three with an eye injury, played just one shift in the second. He remained on the bench, but the Bruins went with five d-men for most of that period.

End Second Period, Bruins 2-1: Two periods are in the books, and the Bruins remain up by one after the clubs exchanged goals in the middle frame. They owe that lead largely to Anton Khudobin, who has been spectacular so far in his Bruins debut.

Second Period,18:16, Bruins 2-1: Khudobin with a pair of huge stops in close, first on Nick Foligno in front, then another on Jesse Winchester a few seconds later.

Second Period,16:14, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins can't convert that power-play chance as their struggles on the man advantage continue. They are now 1 for 15 on the power play in the last nine games.

Second Period,14:14, Bruins 2-1: The Bruins get their first power-play chance of the night as Kyle Turris goes to the box for holding Rich Peverley.

Second Period,13:56, Bruins 2-1: The Senators cut the deficit to one as Jason Spezza finally gets a shot past Khudobin.

Spezza took the puck from the left side, cut to the middle and ripped a wrister up high from the high slot to get Ottawa on the board.

Second Period,13:23, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins use their timeout for a breather with their penalty killers stuck on the ice following an icing after the Krejci penalty expired.

Second Period,13:04, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins survive that penalty despite Daniel Paille playing without a stick for the latter part of the penalty after breaking his stick.

Second Period,11:04, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins will be shorthanded again. This time it's David Krejci going to the box for holding coming back trying to help out on the backcheck.

Second Period, 8:05, Bruins 2-0: Khudobin putting on a show now with a series of sprawling saves to keep the Senators scoreless in this one.

Second Period, 6:29, Bruins 2-0: The Senators nearly answer back, but Khudobin comes up with a big stop on Colin Greening to maintain the two-goal edge.

Second Period, 3:51, Bruins 2-0: The Bruins double the lead as Greg Zanon fires one home from the left point.

Zanon pic ked off a Kyle Turris clearing attempt around the boards and sent in a shot that Bishop got a piece of, but it just sneaked over the line. Rich Peverley provided the screen in front to help distract Bishop.

Second Period, 2:35, Bruins 1-0: Strong shift by the Krejci line and the defense pair of Torey Krug and Adam McQuaid, who combined for several chances while keeping the Senators pinned in their own zone for an extended stretch.

Second Period, 0:00, Bruins 1-0: The middle frame is under way in Ottawa, where the Bruins will look to build on their one-goal lead from the first period while trying to limit Ottawa's chances a little better.

First Intermission Notes: Anton Khudobin was the difference in that period, enjoying a sparkling first frame with the Bruins.

He stopped all 17 shots he faced, including several tough chances as the Senators controlled play for much of the frame. Ottawa had a 17-7 edge in shots, and actually attempted 31 shots to just 10 for Boston. Khudobin got some help in front of him, with the Bruins have eight blocked shots to just two for Ottawa.

The Senators also outhit Boston 16-5, with Chris Neil nearly equalling the entire Bruins team with four all by himself. The only area Boston excelled in was in the faceoff circle. Even with Patrice Bergeron getting the night off, Boston was 12-8 on draws (60 percent). Brian Rolston is 3-0 after sliding over to center from wing with Chris Kelly moving up to Bergeron's spot. Rolston also helped set up Benoit Pouliot's goal to give the Bruins the 1-0 lead.

End First Period, Bruins 1-0: The opening frame comes to a close with some shoving at the final buzzer, but nothing serious develops and the Bruins will take a one-goal lead into the first intermission.

First Period, 16:25, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins kill off that penalty, with Gregory Campbell having a shorthanded chance on a spinning shot from the left wing.

First Period, 14:25, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins will be shorthanded as Brian Rolston picks up the first penalty of the game for slashing Jason Spezza.

First Period, 10:36, Bruins 1-0: The Bruins open the scoring on a pretty passing play by the third line, with Benoit Pouliot finishing the break for the game's first goal.

Jordan Caron started the breakout with a pass to Pouliot, who led a 2 on 1 down the right wing. He passed it over to Brian Rolston, then got it back at the right post and tapped it into the open net.

First Period, 9:45, 0-0: Brad Marchand almost had a chance breaking down the right wing, but Erik Karlsson used his superior speed to close the gap and block the shot.

First Period, 5:15, 0-0: The Bruins take another hit on defense as Greg Zanon goes off in pain after taking a puck up high in the corner. He returns quickly to the bench though, and appears he'll be OK.

First Period, 4:37, 0-0: Khudobin has been tested early, but he's been up to the task so far with four saves already, including a couple of challenging bids.

First Period, 2:19, 0-0: David Krejci with an early bid from the left slot as he's left alone after shaking off a hit, but he can't put it home.

First Period, 0:00, 0-0: The final road game of the regular season for the Bruins is under way in Ottawa, where the Bruins may just be making a couple more trips as they are likely to face these Senators again in the opening round of the playoffs.

7:30 p.m.: The Bruins will open this one with Chris Kelly between Brad Marchand and Rich Peverley up front, Andrew Ference and Dennis Seidenberg on defense and Anton Khudobin in goal.

The senators counter with their top line of Colin Greening, Jason Spezza and Milan Michalek up front, Erik Karlsson and Filip Kuba on the blue line and Ben Bishop in net.

7:25 p.m.: In addition to Chara, Bergeron, Thomas and Boychuk, the Bruins have scratched Mike Mottau and Lane MacDermid. With Mottau out, that means that Adam McQuaid returns to the lineup after missing the last three games with an eye injury.

Zenon Konopka, Bobby Butler, Matt Gilroy, Kaspars Daugavins and Craig Anderson are out for Ottawa. Former Bruin Alex Auld will back up Bishop in goal.

7:15 p.m.: With Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron both sitting this one one, the Bruins are down a captain and an alternate captain.

No one will don the C in this one, but the Bruins will have three alternate captains instead of the usual two. Chris Kelly and Andrew Ference, who usually alternate teh second A between home and away, with both wear it, while David Krejci will have the other A.

7 p.m.: No last-minute surprises in the goalie matchup, as Anton Khudobin and Ben Bishop lead the teams out for warm-ups in Ottawa and they will be the starting netminders in this one.

It will be Khudobin's debut with Boston, but he has played in the NHL before, and quite effectively. He was 4-1-0 with a 1.40 GAA and a .955 save percentage in six games with Minnesota in 2009-10 and 2010-11.

6:30 p.m.: What will likely be a preview of an opening-round playoff clash will take place in about an hour in Ottawa.

The Bruins won't have their full playoff roster for this one though, with Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron and Tim Thomas staying home in Boston for some extra rest before the postseason.

But the Bruins did already get some good news before the game, with defenseman Johnny Boychuk's injury from Tuesday's loss to Pittsburgh revealed to be only a mild knee sprain. He's listed as day to day.

With Thomas not in Ottawa, Anton Khudobin is expected to get the start for his first action with Boston. He was the first goalie off the ice at the morning skate, a sign that he will likely get the nod over Marty Turco in this one. With Turco ineligible for the playoffs, Khudobin will serve as Thomas' backup if Tuukka Rask is not ready to return from his abdominal/groin injury.

8 a.m. ET: The Bruins can't change their playoff position in their final two games, but they can make a statement heading into the postseason.

Boston is locked into the second seed in the Eastern Conference, putting them on a collision course with seventh-seeded Ottawa in the opening round. Ottawa just happens to be where the Bruins are visiting Thursday for their final road game of the regular season.

The Senators (41-29-10, 92 points) have clinched a playoff spot but can climb no higher than seventh. They can only fall to eighth if they lose both of their remaining games in regulation and Washington wins its last two games. That makes Thursday's clash a likely playoff preview, adding some spice to what has been a lopsided rivalry of late.

The Bruins (47-29-4, 98 points) have won four of the first five meetings with the Senators this season and are 18-4-0 over the last four seasons. That includes a 10-1-0 mark in Ottawa in that span, with 5-2 and 5-3 wins at Scotiabank Place this year.

Ottawa did win the last meeting 1-0 at the Garden, though, and Boston will enter this matchup without several key players. Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron and Tim Thomas remain in Boston for some well-deserved rest, while Johnny Boychuk will be out after suffering a lower-body injury Tuesday against Pittsburgh.

The Bruins lost that game against the Penguins 5-3, halting their momentum a bit after going 7-1-1 in their previous nine games. Ottawa also lost Tuesday, falling 2-1 to Carolina. But the Senators won their previous four games by a combined 23-12 count.

With Thomas resting, Anton Khudobin could get his first start with Boston. He and Marty Turco will dress as the Bruins netminders, but with Turco ineligible to play in the postseason, Khudobin would serve as Thomas' backup in the playoffs if Tuukka Rask remains sidelined. Youngster Ben Bishop is expected to start for Ottawa, with starter Craig Anderson 0-3-0 with a 4.75 GAA and .860 save percentage against the Bruins this season.

The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. Tune in to NESN to watch the game, and stay with the NESN.com live blog, as we'll keep you up to speed on everything happening.

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