Music: {allcanada} Senators' Ryan expected to return against Bruins

Sunday, December 27, 2015

{allcanada} Senators' Ryan expected to return against Bruins

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BRUINS (19-11-4) at SENATORS (17-12-6)

TV: NESN, RDS2, TSN5

OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Senators are expected to have forward Bobby Ryan in the lineup Sunday at Canadian Tire Centre against the Boston Bruins.

Ryan did not play in the 2-1 shootout loss against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday. He had aggravated his broken left index finger in the 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Dec. 20.

Senators coach Dave Cameron said forward Curtis Lazar is day-to-day because of an undisclosed injury and will not play. Max McCormick, who was called up from Binghamton of the American Hockey League on Saturday, will replace Lazar in the lineup.

The Senators and Bruins will try to end two-game losing streaks Sunday.

The Bruins have lost back-to-back games in regulation for the first time since three straight losses Nov. 3-7. The Bruins gave up five goals in the third period at home Saturday in a 6-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres, including three in a span of 4:03.

The Senators are in one of their leanest stretches of the season and have lost six of their past nine games (3-5-1). They have lost five straight games to Eastern Conference opponents (0-4-1).

The game Sunday is the first of a home and home between the teams. They play again in Boston on Tuesday.

"We need to start playing a little bit better and consistently through the course of the full 60 minutes," Senators forward Mark Stone said. "We're playing pretty well at home (9-4-4), so it's a good way to start after the Christmas break."

Stone said the time off should help the Senators, who returned to practice at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

"Our day was a lot easier than [the Bruins'] was last night," he said. "We definitely want to come out hard. We're feeling pretty good, refreshed."

Craig Anderson will start in goal for the Senators.

The status of Bruins defenseman Torey Krug for Sunday is not known. He left the game Saturday after five shifts because of an undisclosed injury.

The Bruins did not skate Sunday morning.

Here are the projected lineups:

BRUINS

Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Brett Connolly

Matt Beleskey - David Krejci - Loui Eriksson

Frank Vatrano - Ryan Spooner - Jimmy Hayes

Zac Rinaldo - Landon Ferraro - Tyler Randell

Zdeno Chara - Adam McQuaid

Dennis Seidenberg - Colin Miller

Joe Morrow - Kevan Miller

Tuukka Rask

Jonas Gustavsson

Injured: Chris Kelly (fractured femur), David Pastrnak (foot), Torey Krug (undisclosed), Joonas Kemppainen (upper body)

Scratched: Max Talbot, Zach Trotman

SENATORS

Mike Hoffman - Mika Zibanejad - Bobby Ryan

Zack Smith - Kyle Turris - Mark Stone

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

Scratched: None

Status report: Cameron said Lazar is day-to-day and Ceci is week-to-week. … Talbot is eligible to return after serving a two-game suspension for interference on New Jersey Devils forward Jiri Tlusty a week ago.

Who's hot: Karlsson has three goals and three assists in his past five games.

Team Stats