 first win over the Bruins (20-5-6) since April 6, 2017.Chris Tierney, Artem Anisimov and Jean-Gabriel Pageau also scored for the Senators, who were playing their first home game following a five-game trip (1-4-0).Anders Nilsson made 38 saves.Patrice Bergeron and Jake DeBrusk scored for the Bruins, who were playing the first of four road games. Tuukka Rask made 23 saves in his first loss in regulation since Nov. 8.Leading 3-1 to start the third, the Senators did a good job of containing the Bruins, who were pressing to close the gap.With the Bruins on the power play, Rask was pulled for a 6-on-4 advantage, but Pageau was able to pick off a pass and break in for an empty-net goal to seal the win with just under three minutes remaining.DeBrusk scored a power-play goal 43 seconds later, during a scramble in front of Nilsson. That was as close as the Bruins got as Duclair added another empty-net goal.Ottawa made it a two-goal game early in the second as Vladislav Namestnikov intercepted a pass from Rask behind the net and found Tierney, who scored his fourth of the season.Boston failed to capitalize on three power-play opportunities in the second, with Nilsson making some big saves.The Senators held a 2-1 lead after the first 20 minutes.Ottawa opened the scoring 1:35 into the game when Dylan DeMelo made a pass to Anisimov, who broke through the defense and sent a backhander over Rask's shoulder.Duclair scored his 14th of the season and made it 2-0 as he took a pass from Tierney in the slot and beat Rask on the glove side.The Bruins cut the lead in half as Bergeron, who was making his return after missing the last seven games with a lower-body injury, took a cross-ice pass from David Pastrnak and scored into an open net.NOTES: The Senators will be without goalie Craig Anderson for at least a week. He tweaked his knee Dec. 7.UP NEXTBruins: At Washington Capitals on Wednesday.Senators: At Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday.---More NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
The Boston Bruins will be looking to start a new streak when they travel to Ottawa to open a four-game road trip Monday.The Bruins' 13-game point streak (9-0-4) was snapped with a 4-1 loss against Colorado on Saturday, Boston's first regulation defeat at home this season.Boston also had an eight-game winning streak snapped in its previous game, a 4-3 overtime defeat against Chicago on Thursday. The Bruins rallied from a three-goal deficit in the third period to force overtime."That's a losing game," Bruins forward Brad Marchand told NHL.com. "You can't continue to get down by a couple goals, especially with really good teams. Teams like that really know how to keep a lead, and regardless of how many times we've come back in the past, eventually it's going to catch up to us."Unfortunately, it is good to lose every now and again, good to be able to right the ship again, so maybe this is that game." Marchand has a team-leading 44 points (18 goals, 26 assists), one more than David Pastrnak (an NHL-leading 25 goals, 18 assists).The Bruins (20-4-6) still entered Sunday with a 13-point lead in the Atlantic Division."We're obviously aware that we're in a good position, but it's not something that we really talk about," Marchand said."The season gets long and that's no excuse, but you're not going to be perfect every game and we know that. We have to find ways to win, but we do have to realize the mistakes we're making and start to make improvements if we want to continue to get better. That's what good teams do. That's what we'll look at again (Sunday) and try to bounce back Monday." Coach Bruce Cassidy said the Bruins lacked a sense of urgency Saturday."We have one of the best records in the league, but I don't care -- it's not a switch you can just turn on," Cassidy said. "I thought we would come out a little cleaner than we did." Forward Brett Ritchie returned Saturday after missing six consecutive games and 13 of the past 17 with an elbow infection. The Bruins might get top-line center Patrice Bergeron, who has missed seven straight games with a lower-body injury, back Monday.The Senators (12-17-1) got a day off from practice Sunday after returning home from a five-game, 10-day trip."It's going to feel good to go back home," Senators forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau told the Ottawa Sun. "That was a long road trip. Ten days on the road, that's never easy, and a lot of us have family back home, wives and parents, so it's going to be good to see them for a day. And then get right back to work." The Senators are coming off a hard-hitting, 4-3 loss at Philadelphia on Saturday.Anthony Duclair scored twice and Brady Tkachuk also tallied for Ottawa, which has lost six of its past seven games. Tkachuk was fined by the NHL for a cross-check against the Flyers' Scott Laughton in the final minute.Senators goaltender Craig Anderson allowed two goals on six shots before leaving in the first period with a lower-body injury. He was replaced by Anders Nilsson, who made 13 saves."I think we were engaged, physically at least, from the very beginning," Senators defenseman Dylan DeMelo said. "We just made too many mistakes that end up being in our net, but you can't fault our effort. I thought we played hard." --Field Level Media
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