Music: {allcanada} Anderson, Senators face Bruins without Krejci

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

{allcanada} Anderson, Senators face Bruins without Krejci

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SENATORS (18-12-6) at BRUINS (19-12-4)

TV: NESN, RDS2, TSN5

BOSTON -- Goaltender Craig Anderson will make his third straight start for the Ottawa Senators in the second half of a home-and-home series with the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Tuesday.

Anderson made 38 saves in a 3-1 home win against the Bruins on Sunday.

"I think a lot of it had to do with, in the third period we played really well, we shut them down pretty good," said Anderson, who has 77 saves on 79 shots in his past two games. "But right off the bat, at the beginning of the game, they just started throwing everything at the net. So the shot clock kind of got skewed out of proportion right off the bat. But they did generate some offense and we were able to shut them down."

Anderson is 16-9-4 with a 2.67 goals-against average and .921 save percentage this season.

The Bruins will play their first full game without center David Krejci, who was injured late in the second period Sunday. Krejci is week-to-week with an upper-body injury. This season Krejci shares the Bruins lead with 33 points, has been a vital cog on the top-ranked power play in the NHL and has been a regular on the penalty kill.

But the Bruins will also miss Krejci in the faceoff circle, where he has won 49.8 percent of his draws. Despite missing centers Chris Kelly and Joonas Kemppainen for a lengthy period of time because of injury, the Bruins rank seventh in the League with a 51.2 success rate on faceoffs.

Now they'll face a stiffer test without Krejci.

"I think it's so important that our group as a whole on the ice just takes charge," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "So maybe you have to get grittier, maybe you have to tie up, go for loose pucks, whatever the case is depending on the centerman and how he's been doing on that specific night. So you know you have to adapt and that's what we're going to try and do and I guess win faceoffs by committee is what I would say."

Here are the projected lineups:

SENATORS

Zack Smith – Kyle Turris – Mark Stone

Mike Hoffman – Mika Zibanejad – Bobby Ryan

Dave Dziurzynski – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Alex Chiasson

Shane Prince – Max McCormick – Chris Neil

Marc Methot – Erik Karlsson

Patrick Wiercioch – Mark Borowiecki

Jared Cowen – Chris Wideman

Craig Anderson

Andrew Hammond

Injured: Curtis Lazar (undisclosed), Cody Ceci (upper body), Chris Phillips (back), Clarke MacArthur (concussion), Milan Michalek (finger)

Scratched: None

BRUINS

Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – Brett Connolly

Matt Beleskey – Ryan Spooner – Loui Eriksson

Frank Vatrano – Landon Ferraro – Jimmy Hayes

Zac Rinaldo – Max Talbot – Tyler Randell

Zdeno Chara – Adam McQuaid

Dennis Seidenberg – Zach Trotman

Joe Morrow – Kevan Miller

Tuukka Rask

Jonas Gustavsson

Injured: Torey Krug (undisclosed), David Krejci (upper body), Chris Kelly (broken femur), Joonas Kemppainen (upper body)

Scratched: Colin Miller

Status report: The Bruins did not hold a morning skate and when asked about Krug's status Julien said, "There's a lot of different things that can happen (with the roster), so I can't answer any of those questions." Forward Seth Griffith reported here but had not officially been recalled from Providence of the American Hockey League as of the conclusion of the Bruins' skate.

Who's hot: Karlsson has three goals and five assists during a six-game point streak. … Eriksson has two goals and three assists in his past five games.

Team Stats