Game 47 Preview: Boston Bruins @ Ottawa Senators

Remember when the bye week ended a week ago? Guess what, it’s almost time for another break — the All-Star break! Tonight the Bruins come to town, and then the Senators don’t play again until Tuesday against the Hurricanes.

According to the Sens’ Twitter account, Jean-Gabriel Pageau returns from injury (likely in place of Erik Burgdoerfer) and Mike Condon gets the start in goal. Here’s my estimate at tonight’s lines and pairings:

Some thoughts:

• Tonight’s Chris Neil appreciation night, celebrating a guy who hit 1026 games with the franchise. If you’re going, make sure to bring your “Raise the Roof” arms out of respect
• The land agreement for the Sens’ relocation to LeBreton Flats has been agreed to in principal. You can find B_T’s analysis here.
• Guy Boucher told TSN 1200 that the Bruins have been helped by giving their young players a big role. For some reason, he’s been very reluctant to do the same on Ottawa.
• I was disappointed Mark Stone hadn’t been made an All-Star, but now it looks like he’s gonna need the time to heal anyway
• I’m curious to see if Colin White gets a shot in the top six tonight, especially if the Sens fall behind early
• Brad Marchand will be out tonight, serving the first game of his five-game suspension
• Brace yourselves, because after the All-Star Game, it’s gonna be all trade rumours all the time until the deadline/

Some stats for each team:

Team Stats

Player Stats