The Bruins closed out February with a 5-7-1 mark and were shut out five times.
View full sizeBoston Bruins center Brian Rolston didn't make much of an impact as he didn't record a shot on goal in his return in a Black and Gold uniform.BOSTON - It was the same old story for the new-look Boston Bruins.
Two newcomers – forward Brian Rolston and defenseman Mike Mottau – weren’t able to make a big splash wearing the Black and Gold for the first time as Boston was shut out for the fifth time this month, falling 1-0 to the Ottawa Senators before 17,565 restless fans at TD Garden Tuesday night.
Ottawa forward Erik Karlsson scored the only goal on a power play at 14:44 of the first period as the Bruins closed out their miserable February 5-7-1.
Bruins veteran netminder Tim Thomas played phenomenal between the pipes and stopped 37 shots, but Senators goalie Robin Lehner was a little bit better with 32 saves for his first career shutout.
Rolston, who played in Boston from 1999-2004, didn’t register a shot on goal, but dealt four hits and blocked two shots. He centered the third line with forwards Benoit Pouliot and Jordan Caron for the majority of the night. Mottau had a shot, a hit and a blocked shot.
"We knew it was a huge game," Bruins center Patrice Bergeron said. "I agree that it was one shot away. We did have some great chances, but we're going to play a lot of those type games down the stretch and we're going to find ways to get on the winning side of those."
Boston was hoping to carry over its winning ways from the second half of its six-game, 11-day road trip in which it finished 2-0-1, including a 5-3 win in Ottawa on Saturday.
But the story was Boston’s power play, as it failed to execute on three opportunities in the third period, including with 2:09 remaining, and finished 0 for 4.
"Normally you shouldn’t lose a 1-0 game," Bruins defenseman Joe Corvo said. "Our power play’s got to come through."
With nothing going on offensively it turned a bit testy in the second period with Bruins captain Zdeno Chara and Ottawa forward Chris Neil exchanging shoves then forward Shawn Thornton wanted a piece of Neil later, but were quickly separated.
Ottawa could have easily been up 2-0 at the 12-minute mark in the same period, but forward Erik Condra missed a wide-open net as his shot sailed wide left. The Senators tried to keep the rush alive though failed to score after a flurry of shots.
"Defensively (Ottawa) played real good and early on we needed to chip pucks in," Rolston said. "We weren't doing that and that can cost you. You've got to give them credit. We didn't have as many shots as we should have, obviously, but that's something we can fix."
Later in the period Bruins left wing Milan Lucic threw a big hit on Senators forward Kyle Turris, which was payback for his blindside blast on Bruins blueliner Joe Corvo from Saturday's meeting in Ottawa. Lucic went to the box, but it was for slashing Karlsson earlier in his shift.
Boston successfully killed off Rolston's tripping penalty at 9:41 in the first period, but weren't so lucky the second time around on a Tyler Seguin interference call. Karlsson launched the puck from the center of the blue line and past Thomas to go up 1-0 with 23 seconds remaining on the power-play. Forwards Milan Michalek and Jason Spezza had the assists.
The assist extended Spezza's point-streak to 10 games, which is currently the longest active streak in the league. Bruins center David Krejci owns the league lead this season as he had an 11-game point-streak from Dec. 17-Jan. 16 where he compiled five goals and 11 assists.
The Senators dominated the majority of the opening period with a 13-7 advantage in shots, won 16 of 25 faceoffs and went 1-for-2 on the man advantage.
NOTES: Newly acquired defenseman Greg Zanon was present for the Bruins morning practice Tuesday, but didn't skate. He will likely make his debut Thursday as Boston hosts the New Jersey Devils...Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk sat out with a mild concussion suffered on Saturday after he collided with Ottawa forward Chris Neil three minutes into the third period...It was the Bruins 115 consecutive sellout.
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