Ottawa Senators eyeing seventh straight against Boston Bruins -NHL Match Preview
Ottawa has certainly turned their team around after having a disappointing start to the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season, but now the Senators are eyeing their seventh straight victory against the 2011 Stanley Cup champions, Boston Bruins, when both teams meet on Tuesday, November 1, 2011.
For the Senators, one of the challenges could be playing on the ice in the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, due to the home crowd being one of the most active in the entire league, which could be a reason for them losing on Tuesday.
Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators head coach, Paul McLean, on the other hand is confident about his teams’ ability to tackle any challenge which faces them with their newly gained confidence.
"I think our team has showed a lot of resiliency and character through the 12 games we've played", first-year coach, Paul MacLean, said. "We've handled adversity, we've faced adversity, we've caused our own adversity, we've kind of been up and down the hill, but it's all a learning process and we know that at some point in time it's going to come to an end, then we're going to have to get back on the horse and do it again".
Ottawa managed to win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday without their captain, Daniel Alfredsson, who was out due to a head injury. The team expects him back on the line-up for Tuesday’s matchup, but nothing can be said for sure.
Senators goalie, Alex Auld, is also out due to an undisclosed injury, along with Matt Carkner due to a knee injury and Peter Regin with a shoulder issue, both which are currently on injured reserve.
Colin Greening, Chris Neil and Jason Spezza are hot for the Ottawa Senators at the moment and have potted crucial goals for the team when they really need them. All three players will be playing against Boston and can be the deciders in any one of the periods.
Boston Bruins
Now that October has passed, Boston does not have any excuse for the way they have been playing so far. It is certainly disappointing to see such a team stand at number 15 in the Eastern Conference and is ranked as one of the lowest in the entire league.
"Obviously we can’t be happy with the record", Bergeron said. "We don't want to feel sorry for ourselves”.
The Bruins have lost the last three straight against teams like San Jose Sharks and twice straight against their arch-rivals, the Montreal Canadiens.
Even with the team healthy, except Benoit Pouliot, who is ill and not injured, Boston remains one of the fittest teams throughout the NHL with all their players ready to go.
Many of the Boston players are also playing a top-notch game like Sergei Gonchar, who has seven assists in the past five games, Erik Karlsson has four assists in three games and their 2010 top NHL Entry Draft pick, Tyler Seguin has three goals in four matchups, giving them no excuse performance wise.
All that Boston really needs to do is bring these playing into sync with each other by creating special teams and insuring on-ice communication, instead of each player just trying to pick up a point, which is going on at the moment.
Tuesdays matchup is set to kick off at 7:00 PM ET and can be caught on the major sports entertainment providing channels throughout North America.
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