After beating the Utah Mammoth, 4-1, to begin a crucial five-game homestand last Tuesday night, things have been going south quickly for the Boston Bruins. They got beat by the Edmonton Oilers, 3-1, at home on Thursday night, then suffered a 5-4 shootout loss on Saturday night to the Vancouver Canucks.
They hosted the Ottawa Senators on Sunday night to close out the homestand and the first of two matchups with Atlantic Division foes with the Montreal Canadiens. After what started out as a promising homestand has turned into a disaster, the team has been routed for the second time this year by the Senators.
Bruins throughly embarrassed by the Senators again in 2025-26
To say that Ottawa owns the Bruins this season would be a major understatement. They lost both games on the road and were looking to split the season series after winning the matchup in Boston. They were outworked and outplayed from the drop of the puck on Sunday night.
The Senators scored three first-period goals for an early 3-0 lead before David Pastrnak got the Black and Gold on the board late in the first on a power-play goal. Ottawa grabbed a 5-1 second-period lead and led 6-2 after 40 minutes. You felt bad for the paying customers who had to witness the beatdown.
The seeds for this were planted on Saturday night against the Canucks. For some reason, Marco Sturm started Jeremy Swayman for a fourth straight game in six days, and he looked rusty. The question has to be asked: why wasn't Joonas Korpisalo between the pipes for Vancouver, and Swayman well rested for the Senators? Instead, Korpisalo started against Ottawa and was pulled in the second period after allowing five goals. He wasn't sharp after not playing since December 11 against the Winnipeg Jets.
Ottawa won three of the four matchups this season and was 7-for-13 on the power play. That's unheard of. That's some serious dominance on the special teams. Boston didn't help itself a lot with their play in their own defensive end, which Ottawa took advantage of. This was another dismal performance against a division foe and something you can't have if you're going to be a playoff team.
There is one game left on the homestand against the Canadiens, and yes, it's a must-win if the Bruins are going to salvage anything from this homestand. After the Christmas Break, they head out until after the New Year on a long road trip that starts against the Buffalo Sabres and heads through Western Canada. The good news, the Bruins are done with the Senators until 2026-27.