Bruins put the wheels in motion early, defeat Senators 4-1

It took over 55 minutes for the Bruins to find the back of the net on Monday night in New York.  On Tuesday it took only 1:46, as the Bruins scored four times in the first en route to a 4-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators.

Blake Wheeler provided the Bruins offensive firepower once again, scoring two goals and assisting on a third.  Wheeler now has five points in his last two games.  It really appears as though the 23-year-old winger, who has showed up on the score sheet for five of the last six Bruins goals, is really responding to the heightened roster competition that has accompanied the Satan signing and Lucic’s imminent return.

Satan, playing alongside Wheeler and Krejci, was productive in his first action in black and gold.  Though he did not record a point, he logged over 14 minutes of ice time and was on the ice for Wheeler’s two goals.  This is a very promising sign and it really looked like Satan was game-ready, a concern that I’m sure many Bruins fans had going in.  David Krejci and Mark Recchi scored the other two Bruins goals, both of which came on the powerplay.

With the game seemingly out of hand early, the game was very chippy on both sides.  There were numerous roughing penalties throughout the game, which culminated with game misconducts to both Johnny Boychuk and Chris Neil, of the Senators, in the third period.  Senators defenseman Matt Carkne is another one who surely won’t be on any Bruins guest lists in the near future, having had tiffs with both Zdeno Chara and Shawn Thornton throughout the course of the game.

As far as goaltending, Senators goalie Brian Elliot’s night was short-lived.  He was pulled after giving up the four early goals.  Tim Thomas, on the other, was solid as usual versus Ottawa.  He stopped 28 of 29 shots.  Thomas has now won his last 11 games against the Senators.

Overall, it was a solid effort from the Bruins on Tuesday night.  They responded well to Monday’s disappointing loss to the Rangers.  The B’s get back to the TD Garden on Thursday when they host Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and the rest of the exciting, young Blackhawks.