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A Battle of Wills: Boston vs Ottawa

March 11, 2013, 7:05 PM ET [12 Comments]
Julie Robenhymer
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For some teams, significant injuries to important players can be a death sentence for your season. This is clearly not the case for the Ottawa Senators who some wrote off after Jason Spezza got hurt early in the season and who many wrote off when Erik Karlsson was lost for the season after cutting his achilles tendon last month. They don't use it as an excuse or crutch to explain a poor performance, simply because they haven't had to because they've not been the disaster most thought they'd be after losing those key players.

Their offense, while recently improved, is still lacking, but their defense has continued to pick up the slack as Craig Anderson has been absolutely stellar in net and their penalty kill is one of the best in the league. In truth, they are barely winning games, but they're still winning them. The big question is if they can keep squeaking by and if they can be effective against the conference leaders. Tonight's game against the Bruins and Wednesday's against Montreal will be big and snagging at least two points will be imperative if they want to keep their current position in the standings.

On the flip side of tonight's matchup, the Bruins are flying under the radar as one of the best teams in the league simply because they've played the fewest games and get lost in the standings with a lower point total. That said, I don't know how you can really overlook at team that has lost only three games in regulation, has a killer road record and is on a current tear of 8-1-1. Like Ottawa, their team defense is stellar, particularly their penalty kill, but unlike Ottawa, their offensive attack is much more effective and haven't had to juggle lines due to injuries.

The numbers say Boston should win this game 3-2, but Ottawa's home record is outstanding and they will put up a solid fight. Should be a good game…enjoy!!


Julie
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