Senators vs Bruins Preview: Sanderson Out in Boston

Ottawa visits Boston without Jake Sanderson as Linus Ullmark faces Jeremy Swayman in a close Atlantic Division matchup.

Ottawa opened its season by winning 3-2 in Toronto. The cost of that victory will become much more visible Monday night in Boston.

Jake Sanderson is out after aggravating a lower-body injury Saturday and has been sent back to Ottawa for further evaluation. Andre Burakovsky has also been placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. Artem Zub remains unavailable with a knee injury.

The Senators therefore arrive at TD Garden without two regular defensemen and one of their offseason forward additions, facing a Boston team that has started 2-1-0 and is putting Jeremy Swayman back in goal.

Ottawa still has its own answer in net. Linus Ullmark is confirmed to start against his former team after stopping 27 of 29 shots in Toronto. A matchup that already looked close now becomes a test of whether Ottawa’s redistributed blue-line minutes can survive Boston long enough for Ullmark and the Senators’ forwards to decide it.

Sanderson Is Officially Out

The biggest update from the original matchup is that Sanderson’s status is no longer uncertain.

He will miss Monday in Boston and Tuesday in Detroit after reaggravating the injury that interrupted his training camp. Travis Green said the latest issue appears less serious than initially feared, but Ottawa sent Sanderson home rather than asking him to finish the road swing.

Sanderson played only six shifts against Toronto before leaving in the first period. Ottawa finished the game with five defensemen and still protected a one-goal lead, an encouraging response for one night.

Boston gets a full game to prepare for the altered group.

Ottawa Has to Redistribute Major Minutes

Thomas Chabot becomes the obvious center of Ottawa’s defense while Sanderson is unavailable. The newly named captain already handled the disruption well against Toronto, scoring a goal, adding an assist and helping the Senators close out the opener after Sanderson left.

Jordan Spence, Tyler Kleven, Nikolas Matinpalo and Carter Yakemchuk all move into more important roles around him. Cameron Crotty is expected to enter Monday’s lineup, while Jorian Donovan was recalled from Belleville to provide additional depth.

Donovan’s recall is important organizationally, although it does not automatically put him into Monday’s lineup. Green indicated Crotty would draw in against Boston.

Zub’s continued absence makes that redistribution more difficult. Ottawa entered the season already managing his knee injury before losing Sanderson during Game 1.

Ullmark Gets the Boston Return

There is no longer any uncertainty about Ottawa’s goaltender either. Ullmark starts at TD Garden.

He was excellent in Toronto, making 27 saves in the 3-2 win. Matthews and Kirill Marchenko beat him once each, while Ottawa survived several dangerous Toronto chances and a late push to secure the opening-night victory.

Monday gives Ullmark his latest game against the organization where he won the 2023 Vezina Trophy. The emotional angle is obvious, but the practical value is greater. Ottawa may have to survive more defensive-zone time while its blue line operates without Sanderson and Zub.

A strong Ullmark night can absorb some of those structural losses. A poor one exposes them immediately.

Swayman Has Opened the Season Brilliantly

Boston counters with one of the strongest early goaltending starts in the league.

Swayman is 2-0-0 with a 1.47 goals-against average, a .947 save percentage and one shutout. He stopped the Rangers in a 3-0 season-opening win and then made 30 saves as Boston beat Winnipeg 4-3 in overtime.

Michael DiPietro handled Saturday’s 4-1 loss in Minnesota, giving Swayman a night off before Ottawa arrived.

That creates a rested Swayman against an Ottawa offense that scored three times in Toronto but did most of its damage through different parts of the lineup rather than one dominant scoring unit.

Ottawa Spread the Offense Around in Toronto

The first game of Ottawa’s post-Brady Tkachuk season offered some early evidence that the scoring can be distributed.

Chabot scored from the blue line. Michael Amadio added another. Stephen Halliday supplied the third-period winner. Claude Giroux assisted on two goals, while Tim Stützle, Dylan Cozens and Drake Batherson remained central to the Senators’ top-six structure.

That type of balance becomes useful against Swayman. Ottawa cannot spend the evening waiting for one line to manufacture every dangerous possession. Boston’s goaltender is playing too well for predictable offense.

Burakovsky’s absence removes another potential scoring option. He has been placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury after already missing the opener.

Boston Has More Offense Around Pastrnak

David Pastrnak remains the player Ottawa has to locate every time he crosses the boards. Boston’s early offense has shown more variety around him than that simple assignment suggests.

JJ Peterka has already scored twice. Mark Kastelic enters Monday with three points. Elias Lindholm, Morgan Geekie, Pavel Zacha and Casey Mittelstadt give Boston several ways to construct its top six without forcing every possession through Pastrnak.

That becomes especially relevant against Ottawa’s shortened defensive group. Boston can keep sending skilled forwards over the boards after Chabot’s pair leaves the ice, testing how well the Senators’ second and third pairings handle sustained pressure.

Ottawa’s challenge extends beyond stopping Boston’s first line. It has to survive the minutes when Chabot cannot be on the ice.

Poitras Returns for Boston

The Bruins get another option Monday with Matt Poitras making his season debut after beginning the year on injured non-roster status because of a lower-body injury.

Poitras skated between Tanner Jeannot and Kastelic at Monday’s morning skate. Frederic Brunet will also make his season debut on Boston’s third defensive pair alongside Mason Lohrei.

Boston is still operating without Charlie McAvoy, who remains suspended. His absence takes an elite defenseman and major power-play piece out of the lineup, which keeps the matchup from becoming simply Ottawa trying to survive its injuries against a full-strength opponent.

The Bruins still enter with the more stable defensive situation Monday because Sanderson and Zub remove two major pieces from Ottawa simultaneously.

Special Teams Could Find Ottawa’s Weak Point

Sanderson’s absence changes more than Ottawa’s five-on-five pairings. It also removes one of the club’s most important special-teams defensemen.

Chabot should absorb more power-play responsibility, while the penalty-killing group has to redistribute minutes around a blue line already missing Zub.

That gives Boston an obvious incentive to force Ottawa into defensive mistakes and draw penalties rather than relying entirely on five-on-five offense. Pastrnak and Peterka can both punish space quickly once the Bruins establish the offensive zone.

Ottawa has enough skill on its own power play to answer. Giroux, Stützle, Batherson and Cozens can make unnecessary Boston penalties expensive, particularly with McAvoy unavailable.

Boston’s First Loss Was a Useful Warning

The Bruins’ 2-0 start ended Saturday in Minnesota.

Boston lost 4-1 after opening the season with a shutout of the Rangers and an overtime win in Winnipeg. That loss should prevent the early record from becoming more meaningful than three games deserve.

The Bruins have already shown two ways to win. They can play a controlled low-scoring game behind Swayman, and they can survive a more open game like the one in Winnipeg. Minnesota showed that Boston can also be pushed backward when the opponent controls enough of the dangerous possession.

Ottawa’s path likely looks closer to the Winnipeg game than the Rangers opener. The Senators have enough skill to create chances, but asking them to win 1-0 or 2-1 with their current defensive absences places too much weight on Ullmark.

The Market Is Almost a Coin Flip

The sportsbook market has kept the teams extremely close.

FanDuel listed Ottawa around -115 Monday afternoon with Boston approximately -104. The total was 5.5 at that snapshot, while other books had Boston around even money.

That pricing makes sense given the competing advantages. Ottawa won its opener and has Ullmark confirmed. Boston has home ice, the healthier defense and Swayman playing at an elite level through his first two starts.

The injury news has become more important than the 1-0 and 2-1 records. Sanderson is definitely out. Burakovsky is on IR. Zub remains unavailable. Those are tangible lineup changes rather than conclusions drawn from tiny early-season samples.

Ottawa Has Another Game Tuesday

The Senators are rested enough for Monday. They did not play Sunday after winning in Toronto Saturday.

The schedule becomes more relevant after the final horn. Ottawa visits Detroit Tuesday night, meaning the Senators will have to cover another full game without Sanderson less than 24 hours after Boston.

That makes Monday’s defensive workload worth watching. If Chabot has to play enormous minutes against Boston, Green then has to decide how much he can reasonably ask from the same group in Detroit.

Sanderson has already been ruled out of both games, removing the possibility that Ottawa simply saves him Monday for the second half of the trip.

Boston Has the Slightly Cleaner Setup

Ottawa’s opening win showed that the lineup still has enough offense to succeed without Tkachuk and Burakovsky. Ullmark also gives the Senators the kind of goaltender who can turn a difficult road game into a one-goal contest.

Boston enters with fewer moving parts. Swayman is rested and confirmed. Poitras returns. The Bruins are home. Ottawa has to rebuild its defensive pairings around Sanderson and Zub being unavailable while preparing to play again Tuesday.

That creates a small Boston edge in a matchup that still looks close enough to be decided in the final few minutes.

Prediction: Boston Bruins 3, Ottawa Senators 2. Ullmark should keep Ottawa competitive in his return to TD Garden, but Swayman’s early form and Boston’s ability to pressure a depleted Senators defense give the Bruins the clearer path to the third goal.

Sources