Ottawa @ Boston preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 9, 2019 ) Ottawa 2, Boston 3

The Boston Bruins have matched their best start through a dozen games in franchise history and have a chance to extend a number of streaks when they host the lowly Ottawa Senators on Saturday night. The Bruins have beaten Ottawa eight straight times and will take both a four-game overall winning streak and eight-game point string (6-0-2) into Saturday's matchup.

Boston has yet to lose in regulation at TD Garden (5-0-1) and opened its three-game homestand with a dominant 5-1 win over San Jose on Tuesday, its third straight victory by at least a three-goal margin. “You want to take each game one at a time and focus on each game while taking care of business," center Charlie Coyle said. "There’s a lot clicking right now. We want to hopefully keep it going.” Ottawa, which also manhandled the Sharks (5-2) in its last game, has been idle since Sunday and has a chance to post back-to-back wins for the first time in the opener of a three-game road trip that includes visits to both New York teams. “I would have loved to have played back-to-back, to be honest with you,” coach D.J. Smith said of losing momentum from the layoff. “We got so many good performances by so many people, and then you take this much time off, you’ve got rev it back up."

TV: 7 p.m. ET, SportsNet360, TVA2 (Ottawa), NESN (Boston)

ABOUT THE SENATORS (3-7-1): Defenseman Thomas Chabot (neck) exited Thursday's practice but was back on the ice Friday and cleared to play. Forwards Filip Chlapik and J.C. Beaudin were sent back to the minors after Sunday's victory but they were recalled on Thursday and are expected to be in the lineup as a reward for their play versus San Jose. “That’s the message: If you play well and you play hard then you get to play again,” Smith said. “I thought they were a big reason why we were good the other day. They took short shifts and they hit everything.”

ABOUT THE BRUINS (9-1-2): The Perfection Line had a relatively quiet night against San Jose with three points, but David Pastrnak scored his 12th goal to tie Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl for the league lead entering play Friday. Named the NHL's Second Star of the Month on Friday, Pastrnak has amassed his 12 goals and as many assists during a 10-game point streak and lit up the Senators for four tallies and nine points in only three matchups last season. Linemate Brad Marchand, riding an 11-game point streak, collected seven points in four games versus Ottawa in 2018-19.

OVERTIME

1. Pastrnak is the sixth player since 1989-90 with at least four 10-game point streaks before the age of 24.

2. Senators G Craig Anderson allowed seven goals in losing both starts versus Boston last season.

3. Bruins G Tuukka Rask, who leads the league in goals-against (1.41) and save percentage (.951), is 15-7-4 with three shutouts versus Ottawa.

PREDICTION: Bruins 4, Senators 1