Bruins @ Senators

Who will WIN this matchup?

Boston Bruins (20-4-6)

@ Ottawa Senators (12-17-1)

Starting Goalies:

Tuukka Rask (BOS): Likely

Anders Nilsson (OTT): Confirmed

Current odds:

Boston Bruins: (-185)

Ottawa Senators: (+160)

• The Boston Bruins saw a number of pronounced streaks come to a halt over the last two contests, however they still have one under their belt heading into Monday’s contest against the host Ottawa Senators. The Bruins posted a pair of victories over their Atlantic Division rival last month to extend their winning streak to 10 straight games in the series.  Brad Marchand, who collected two goals and an assist against Ottawa last month, tried to keep an optimistic view after the Bruins’ 4-1 setback to red-hot Colorado on Saturday snapped their 13-game overall point streak (9-0-4) and 17-game home point stretch (12-0-5). “It is good to lose every now and again. And good to be able to right the ship again,” said the pesky 31-year-old Nova Scotia native, who has answered a sterling 43-point stretch to start the season with just one in his last five games.

• Ottawa has seen the momentum built from a promising 7-2-0 run go by the boards with six losses in its last seven contests. Anthony Duclair, who scored in the Senators’ 5-2 setback to the Bruins on Nov. 2, tallied twice in Saturday’s contentious 4-3 loss in Philadelphia to extend his point streak to three games (three goals, one assist).

• Fourth-liner Chris Wagner scored in his second straight game in Saturday’s loss to Colorado after redirecting defenseman John Moore’s shot from the point in the first period. The 28-year-old Massachusetts native registered five hits and won half of his 10 faceoff draws in his 12:39 of ice time, however coach Bruce Cassidy was left to lament the play of the rest of the team following Saturday’s defeat. “There’s just a lot of details that are working against us now,” Cassidy told reporters. “We’ve just got to wake up and start playing to our abilities in those situations. And live with the result. It doesn’t mean we’re going to win, but I think we’re leaving plays on the table because our lack of urgency or understanding that teams are coming after us.”

• Brady Tkachuk scored a goal in the first period against Philadelphia, however his afternoon would prove pricey after his hit on Scott Laughton during the latter stages of the third drew minor penalties for both cross-checking and roughing. The NHL promptly added to the punishment by tacking on a fine of $2,486.56, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement. “For a 20-year-old kid to play with that kind of jam, and on this trip, he really started to take some leadership role in that department where regardless of the night, he plays hard,” Ottawa coach D.J. Smith told reporters of Tkachuk, who registered a game-high seven hits and six shots on goal. “(I) thought he dragged us into the battle tonight when some guys were a little flat. Thought he was great.”

• Ottawa G Anders Nilsson sports a 5-3-0 mark with a 2.42 goals-against average and .923 save percentage at home, as opposed to a 2-5-1 mark, 3.85 GAA and .897 SP on the road.

• Bruins RW David Pastrnak has erupted for 22 points (nine goals, 13 assists) in 17 career encounters versus the Senators.

• Senators D Thomas Chabot, who scored in a 2-1 setback to Boston on Nov. 27, has six of his club co-leading 15 assists in his last 11 games.