(Sports Network) - After salvaging the finale of their five-game road trip, the Ottawa Senators return home to host the Boston Bruins in tonight's Northeast Division clash at Scotiabank Place.
The Senators won a season-high five straight games from Feb. 18-25 and the final four victories of that stretch came at home. However, Ottawa then went 0-2-2 at the start of their recent swing before posting a 3-2 regulation win against the New York Rangers on Friday.
However, considering its recent series' history against the Bruins, Ottawa faces an uphill battle in tonight's game. Boston has taken two straight and 10 of the last 11 against the Senators and the B's are riding a nine-game winning streak in Ottawa.
Boston, which also has won 12 of 13 in Ottawa, hasn't lost a road game in this series since April 7, 2009.
The Senators also face the Bruins without forward Milan Michalek, who was not on the ice for Monday's morning skate. Guillaume Latendresse took is spot and will play in his place this evening. Latendresse has been on injured reserve since Feb 5 with a neck injury and passed his baseline test on Sunday.
Monday's contest is the second of five scheduled meetings between these divisional foes this season. The Bruins posted a 2-1 overtime win against the visiting Sens on Feb. 28, as Patrice Bergeron scored the winner in OT and Tuukka Rask stopped 30 shots for Boston.
The Senators ended their four-game slide thanks to Jakob Silfverberg's tally late in the third period. Silfverberg gave Ottawa a 3-2 edge with 4:41 remaining in regulation, corralling the rebound of an Eric Gryba shot and lifting it under the crossbar from the right side.
New York went for the extra skater with just over one minute to play, but Silfverberg's marker stood up for the win.
Zack Smith and Patrick Wiercioch also scored for the Senators, who hadn't won since Feb. 25 against Montreal and notched their first road victory since Feb. 18 at New Jersey. Robin Lehner recorded 33 saves for the victory.
"We needed to win, and we needed to win on the road. I thought we stepped up and showed some determination," said Senators head coach Paul MacLean. "We need to have everyone playing hard and that's what happened."
Lehner is expected to get the start in goal again this evening.
The Sens have won their last five home games and are 9-1-2 at Scotiabank Place this season. Following Monday's encounter with the Bruins, Ottawa will play its next two tilts on the road in Montreal and Buffalo.
The Bruins are 8-1-1 over their last 10 outings and currently sit three points behind Montreal for first place in the Northeast. Boston has played four less games than the Canadiens this season.
Rask led Boston to its second straight win on Saturday, as he turned back all 23 shots he faced to notch his second shutout of the season in a 3-0 win over visiting Philadelphia. The Bruins scored all three of their goals within a 2:18 span in the first period.
Tyler Seguin, Chris Kelly and Daniel Paille all lit the lamp during Boston's scoring barrage, as the B's recorded their first home shutout of the Flyers since Jan. 25, 2003, when Jeff Hackett blanked Philadelphia.
"It was good for us to get that lead," said Bruins head coach Claude Julien. "For us, it was about playing a 60-minute game. We knew they were going to come out better in the second [period] and we had to face that."
Rask is expected to get the nod for tonight's game.
Unlike Ottawa, the Bruins have fared very well on the road this season, logging an 8-1-2 record as the guest compared to a similar 8-2-1 mark in Boston.
The Bruins will complete a two-game swing Tuesday evening in Pittsburgh.
