Bruins provide tough test
Senators will have to adjust to losing last change
BOSTON The Ottawa Senators were sky high as they flew into Boston Wednesday, looking to do everything possible to avoid a bump in the road and extend their winning streak to six games.
They also realize just who the Boston Bruins are.
“They’re probably the best team in our conference so far,” said Daniel Alfredsson. “They’re playing solid. They’re not going to give you much. But we know our style, what we’re going to have to do. If we execute and get great goaltending, we’ll be in it.”
Only the goofiness of the schedule is keeping the Bruins out of top spot in the Eastern Conference.
They’ve played only 16 games — four fewer than the Senators — and sport a 12-22 record.
They’re 4-1-1 at home, 8-1-1 on the road and they’re riding a four-game winning streak.
While the Senators have made the most of their home-heavy schedule so far, posting a 9-1-2 record, they’re only 3-5-0 on the road.
The game against the Bruins kicks off a stretch of five straight road games for the Senators.
They play seven of their next eight games, and eight of their next 10, away from Scotiabank Place.
The challenge is that they don’t have the final line change, meaning Bruins coach Claude Julien can choose what line to play against the Senators’ checking line of Dave Dziurzynski, Zack Smith and Chris Neil and the shutdown defensive pair of Marc Methot and Eric Gryba.
“This is going to be a battle, no question,” said Methot.
At the same time, the Senators are hoping that they’ll be able to build something by spending more time together away from Ottawa.
“We have a lot of new faces and it’s good to get on the road and hang out a little bit,” said Alfredsson. “Some of the young guys are getting to fly, instead of being on the bus (in the American Hockey League). You want to make sure they have fun and enjoy the experience.”
Everything, of course, is more fun when you’re winning.
MICHALEK MAKES TRIP
Before Wednesday, the last time Milan Michalek took a flight with his teammates turned out to be on one of the worst days in franchise history. Michalek suffered a mysterious knee injury during the warm-up before the Feb. 13 against Pittsburgh, the same night that defenceman Erik Karlsson suffered his torn Achilles injury.
Wednesday, however, Michalek was smiling again. He practised with the team for the first time since the injury and was on the team charter to Boston.
Michalek won’t play Thursday against Boston and coach Paul MacLean says it’s unlikely he’ll play Saturday versus Philadelphia or Sunday against the New York Islanders, but the fact he’s working out with the team is a sign that he’s close to returning.
“It’s getting better, we’ll see how it goes in the next few days,” said Michalek.
Michalek, who has had three surgeries on his right knee and one on his left knee during his career, says he contemplated surgery at one point because he had a setback during his recovery. He still doesn’t know what happened to cause the knee to flare up in Pittsburgh.
“Something felt weird and I came off the ice and it was all swollen,” he said.