Atlantic Division rivals will meet for the fourth and final time this season and conclude busy back-to-back weekends as the Boston Bruins host the Ottawa Senators on Sunday night.
The Senators aim for their fourth straight win after taking a 6-4 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday afternoon.
The Bruins, in turn, sustained their third loss in four games (1-2-1) with a 5-4 shootout defeat against the Vancouver Canucks.
In Ottawa’s win, captain Brady Tkachuk scored two goals to boost his total to five in his past three games.
David Perron netted two of the team’s three third-period goals on Saturday.
Tim Stutzle had a goal and two assists, giving him 13 points (five goals, eight assists) across a six-game point streak. Fabian Zetterlund notched a goal and an assist on Saturday.
“They held onto pucks, they played below the top of the circles, they won puck battles,” Ottawa coach Travis Green said of the top-line trio of Tkachuk, Stutzle and Zetterlund in Saturday’s game. “You don’t have a night like that if you’re not really strong on the puck.”
There was even more significance to the game than just another win for Ottawa, as veteran defenseman Thomas Chabot returned from an upper-body injury that sidelined him for 15 of the past 16 games.
Chabot logged 26 minutes, 37 seconds of ice time — nearly five minutes more than his season average entering the game — while playing in his first action since Nov. 22. He assisted on Tkachuk’s go-ahead tally in the second period.
“It’s my first game in a month, and you kind of want to just ease into it. It’s good. It got me right back into it,” Chabot said. “It was a great game by the whole team.”
However, defenseman Tyler Kleven was lost to a lower-body injury in Saturday’s first period and did not return. Green had no update following the game.
Leevi Merilainen made 20 saves, earning his first win since Nov. 13 against Boston. Former Bruin Linus Ullmark is scheduled to start on Sunday.
The Bruins will have little time to dwell on their first overtime or shootout loss this season. They allowed two third-period goals to Vancouver before going scoreless in seven shootout attempts against Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen.
“Played a little bit too loose, and they made us pay for it,” Boston forward Tanner Jeannot said of the third period.
Morgan Geekie scored his 25th goal of the season and 50th of the 2025 calendar year while adding an assist, but his effort was not enough to help the Bruins in a game in which they piled up 42 shots on goal and led 1-0 and 3-2. Boston had previously allowed the first goal in six consecutive games.
After being very pleased with his team’s 5-on-5 play in a 3-1 Thursday loss to the Edmonton Oilers, Boston coach Marco Sturm said mistakes were costly in the latest contest.
“We found ourselves getting tight right at the end because of a mistake,” Sturm said. “It’s unfortunate because I thought we were ready to go today … but we couldn’t find a way to put them away.”
The Bruins had Jeremy Swayman in goal for the back-and-forth contest versus Vancouver, marking the first time all season in which he made four consecutive starts.
“It was a big game for us, and we thought (Swayman) would give us the best chance,” Sturm said of his goaltending decision on Saturday.
As a result, Joonas Korpisalo has not played since a Dec. 11 win at the Winnipeg Jets. He allowed the Senators to score four goals on 21 shots in the Nov. 13 loss for Boston.
Stutzle collected two goals and an assist in that game, a 5-3 Ottawa win.
With another win, the Senators would take three of four in the head-to-head series against Boston for the second straight season.
–Field Level Media
