Need to Know: Bruins at Senators

BOSTON – It may only be mid-January, but there just might be a playoff-type atmosphere on Saturday afternoon in Ottawa.

The Bruins (22-19-5, 49 points) and Senators (22-18-4, 48 points) will enter their matinee matchup separate by just one point in the standings with Boston currently holding on to the East’s second wild card spot. Columbus (22-17-6) holds the first spot with 50 points, while Montreal (22-18-4) sits just one point behind both Boston and Ottawa.

“There’s a logjam right now,” interim head coach Joe Sacco said following Friday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena. “For us, it’s about the last couple games that we’ve played against division opponents, another one coming up [Saturday] against a very good hockey team again that’s playing better.

“For us, it’s zeroing in on the games that are in front of us and making sure that we’re just trying to stick to our game, stick to our process and hopefully the end result will take care of itself.”

While the Black & Gold have now won two straight to break a six-game losing skid, they know there is still plenty of room for growth in their game as they aim to build on their victories over Atlantic Division foes Florida and Tampa.

“They’re big points for both teams,” said captain Brad Marchand. “It’s a great opportunity to continue to build our game. We’ve had a couple big wins lately. Definitely areas of our game we can continue to improve upon. But another good opportunity to do that [Saturday].

“[It’s] one we’re looking forward to. Nice to have a few days to recover and get excited about the game."

Marchand added that he believes that playoff-type environment will be beneficial for the Bruins as they look to shore up their play over the second half of the season.

“We watch standings all year,” said Marchand. “You try not to get too caught up in it because things change on the daily. We’re aware of it. It’s definitely not too early for the playoff picture. You have to, as quick as you can, find a way to compete at the highest level and play that playoff-type game.

“That’s the way they tried to build us this year and we have to do a little better job of doing that on a consistent basis. When we do it, we’re a hard team to play and we showed that. We just get away from it sometimes, so we have to find that consistency.”

Kastelic Eyeing Return

After being sidelined by a concussion for the past three games, Mark Kastelic appears poised for a return on Saturday afternoon – and it couldn’t come at a better time. The burly forward spent the first four seasons of his professional career in the Senators organization and the matchup will mark his first game back in Ottawa since the June trade that sent him to Boston.

“It would be really special,” said Kastelic. “You don’t want to rush these things but that was kind of in the back of my mind, just trying to get feeling as best I could for that. If I get in [Saturday], I’ll be really excited to be back in Ottawa. And to be back with the boys will be really great.”

Kastelic said he feels “really good” in his recovery, but that ultimately the decision about whether he returns to the lineup will be left to the medical and coaching staffs.

“He made it through practice today,” said Sacco. “We’ll talk to the medical staff. If he has no symptoms or anything he’ll be good to go.”

Opposing View

• The Senators, who won the first matchup of the season in Boston (3-2 in OT) on Nov. 9, enter Saturday’s meeting coming off a 1-0 overtime loss to Washington on Thursday, though they have won three of four. For the month of January, Ottawa is 3-3-2.
• Tim Stutzle paces Ottawa with 43 points (14 goals, 29 assists) in 44 games, while Brady Tkachuk (38 points) leads the club with 18 goals. Drake Batherson (14-25—39), Claude Giroux (9-19—28), and Josh Norris (15-10—25) round out the Sens’ top-five scorers.
• Old friend Linus Ullmark has posted a 12-7-2 record with a 2.38 goals against average and .915 save percentage in 23 games this season, though he has not played since Dec. 22 due to injury. Anton Forsberg has gotten the most work outside of Ullmark, posting a 4-8-1 record with a 3.10 GAA and .883 save percentage.

Wait, There’s More

• Cole Koepke, who was injured during Tuesday’s win over Tampa, did not practice and will not play against the Senators, per Sacco.
• Sacco said he is “leaning towards” Jeremy Swayman making his fifth consecutive start. Over the course of his last four games, the netminder has posted a .929 save percentage. Sacco added that the coaching staff will talk after the game in Ottawa about whether or not Joonas Korpisalo will start on Monday afternoon. “This has been a good week for us because of the time between games,” said Sacco. “We’re able to get some rest for our group, the guys that needed it, especially that play more minutes or more games in Sway’s case. We haven’t had one of these weeks in a while. You gotta make sure you’re keeping the other guy ready to go as well because he’s played well for us too this year. When you have some days in between games like we do, the practice time, the rest time in between, it helps with making those decisions a little bit easier. That’s where we’re at.”
• Marchand on the Bruins having three days and two practice between games this week: “We haven’t had a ton of time the last month to practice,” said Marchand. “More practice time, more things we can work on and try to improve our game. It’s nice to get out there with the guys and work hard and compete and try to get better.”