Boston Bruins 2015-16 Division Rivalry: Ottawa Senators
With the 2015-16 season approaching, it seems fitting to touch-base and size up the Bruins in comparison to each of their division rivals. The Boston Bruins had a mixed result when playing within their division, and this series of stories will explain what the Bruins have to do, and have to avoid to succeed within the Atlantic Division in the 2015-16 season. The fifth team to be analyzed will be the Ottawa Senators.
The 2014-15 season was a rough one for the Boston Bruins, mixed with injuries, bad cap-management, and really just poor-effort almost all the way around, which led to the first missed playoffs since the 2006-07 season for the Bruins. The Bruins had moderate success against the Ottawa Senators in the 2014-15 season, winning two of the five games, but taking a point in two of the three losses. The Ottawa Senators are a young team with a very bright future with players like Mark Stone, Mike Hoffman, Bobby Ryan, and Erik Karlsson, among others, all playing exceptionally well and all being relatively young. With the miracle play of Andrew Hammond down the stretch, the Senators played a key role in the Boston Bruins missing the playoffs.
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The Ottawa Senators have options at goaltender with Craig Anderson, Andrew Hammond, and newly signed Boston University standout Matt O’Connor. The former two have both proven that they are more than capable of playing a starting role in the NHL, and it will be interesting to see which goalie wins the starting job coming out of training camp. With such strong goaltender depth, the Bruins will have to work hard regardless of who the starting goalie is if they want to increase their goal total from the 2014-15 season when playing the Senators.
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The Ottawa Senators seem to be the team that Ryan Spooner shines the most against, finding the back of the net a few times against them last season. If Spooner can continue his success and the rest of the Bruins roster can tack on some additional goal insurance, it isn’t hard to envision Boston winning the seasons series against the Senators in the 2015-16 season. The Bruins will have their work cut out for them when it comes to matching the offense of the Senators, as they have the aforementioned talent, as well as Mika Zibanejad and Kyle Turris centering their top two lines. Tuukka Rask will need to play like a Vezina-winning goaltender again consistently if he plans on helping the Bruins to wins against the Senators.
Tuukka Rask had a very good season in 2014-15, all things considered. Having played for a franchise record 70 games and having very little defensive help throughout the season. Tuukka Rask’s save percentage dropped from 0.930 to 0.922 and his goal-against-average went up to 2.30 from a 2.04 the season before. Those numbers are still amazing and should improve barring any unforeseen injuries striking again in the 2015-16 season, which is always a possibility in professional sports. If Rask continues to play well, he is capable of stealing at least one or two games against the Senators, the remaining games in the series might prove costly to the Bruins if they can’t get the job done, however.
What do YOU think the Bruins will have to do to succeed against the Ottawa Senators this season? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
Find out how the Bruins can succeed against the Montreal Canadiens here, the Toronto Maple Leafs here, the Detroit Red Wings here, and the Buffalo Sabres here!
Next up: Florida Panthers