Posted at 1:45 PM EST. Odds subject to change.

Pinnacle -1½ +111 BET365 -1½ +115 Sportsinteraction -1½ +110   888Sport -1½ +110 

Boston -1½ +115 over Ottawa

7:07 PM EST. Considering the scheduling situation, the Bruins find the Senators in tonight, it’s incredible that we are still able to take back plus money on the B’s on the puck line (-1½). Boston catches Ottawa here after the Sens have traveled after 12 straight games, and a closer look at their schedule shows that trend will continue, as they will not play two games in a row at the same location until the first week of April, when the Senators host New Jersey and Florida on April 4 and 6. That means after tonight, the Sens play seven more games in which they must jettison after the final whistle to make it to the next stop.

It’s a scheduling nightmare that we are going to be following closely. Going back to their February 26 home game versus Vegas, the Senators have traveled from Ottawa to Washington, Nashville, back to Ottawa, Philadelphia, out West to Anaheim, Los Angeles, and San Jose before coming home for one game versus the Penguins and then heading back out to Columbus, Long Island, and then back to Ottawa for their 7-2 drubbing by the mighty Carolina Hurricanes.

Coming into tonight, Ottawa sits in second-last place in the Eastern Conference, just three points up on Columbus for dead last, and they trail the Capitals by 15 points for the last Wild Card. Expectations were high in Canada’s capital, but with those expectations has come another disappointing season that saw the Sens fire another head coach and try to turn back the clock by hiring their most famous bench boss, Jaques Martin, to take over the reins, but that move failed to produce a spark, and the Sens have been racking up more losses than wins since the puck dropped on the season. Over their last 10, the Sens have gone 3-6-1, but each of those three victories was by the slimmest of margins in either overtime or the shootout.

If the Senators are not running on fumes at this point, they will be soon, and the Bruins are the kind of team that will accelerate the draining of that gas tank. Over the last two weeks, which is a six-game sample, the Bruins are back in the top 10 (8th) in puck possession, and they are top five (4th) in High Danger Scoring Chance%. After a lull at the end of February in which the B’s did not perform well, they are now back to firing on all cylinders. If the Sens are able to keep pace here, so be it, but that is a big ask for a team that hasn’t had a chance to breathe in three weeks.

Sherwood

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