At the Rink: Senators at Bruins

OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Senators will play their most significant game in a couple of seasons when they host the Boston Bruins at Canadian Tire Centre on Tuesday.

The Senators trail the Bruins, who hold the second wild-card spot for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Eastern Conference, by five points, and have played one fewer game than the Bruins. There hasn’t been a game with as much significance for the Senators since the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2013.

“We're still on the outside looking in and at the end of the day they are the ones holding that spot and they have something to lose,” Senators goaltender Craig Anderson said. “We’re coming on, we’re attacking and we’re playing loose. We’re a young group and we’re learning.”

Anderson will start for the second straight game since returning from a hand injury sustained Jan. 21.

The Senators were 14 points out of the last playoff position Feb. 10, but have put themselves back in the race with a 10-1-2 run.

Goaltender Andrew Hammond, 27, started in the NHL for the first time and won seven of those games while Anderson and Robin Lehner (concussion) were injured.

Anderson returned Sunday against the Calgary Flames in a wild game in which the Senators blew a 4-0 lead with 13 minutes left in the third period. They won 5-4 in a shootout.

“I think we probably thought it was going to be easy and (the Flames) were going to go away, and they did the exact opposite. Complacency can’t be setting in at this time of year,” Senators wing Bobby Ryan said.

“To be here this time of year and playing any game that’s meaningful right now, they are all the biggest game going forward. I think they all be will just a little bit bigger than the rest.”

After losing six games in a row to open the door for teams like the Senators, Florida Panthers and the Philadelphia Flyers to get back in the playoff race, the Bruins are 5-1-1.

“We’ve had a lot of those big games lately. This is no different than that,” Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask said. “They’re a few points behind us and it’s really important for us to keep taking steps in the right direction with our game and trying to push those teams below us more below us.”

Rask, who is celebrating his 28th birthday Tuesday, said a good birthday present would be a win.

The Bruins have been sparked lately by forward Brad Marchand, who has five goals in his past four games.

“We know the situation and we know it’s a huge game for them,” Marchand said. “This is an opportunity for them to get pretty close to us in the standings. This is a huge opportunity for us to try and push them down. It’s an equally important game for both teams. We know they are going to give their best effort tonight and we need to make sure we do the same.”

“Especially with how well they’ve been playing, we need to make sure we play our best game of the season tonight and leave it all out there.”

The Senators are 2-1-0 against the Bruins this season with Ryan scoring the winning goal in both victories.

The two teams play for the final time this season at Canadian Tire Centre on March 19.

Here are the projected lineups:

BRUINS

Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – Reilly Smith

Milan Lucic – Ryan Spooner – David Pastrnak

Chris Kelly – Carl Soderberg – Loui Eriksson

Daniel Paille – Gregory Campbell – Max Talbot

Zdeno Chara – Dougie Hamilton

Torey Krug – Adam McQuaid

Dennis Seidenberg – Matt Bartkowski

Tuukka Rask

Niklas Svedberg

Scratched: Brian Ferlin

Injured: Brett Connolly (finger), David Krejci (knee), Kevan Miller (shoulder), Marc Savard (post concussion syndrome)

SENATORS

Milan Michalek- Kyle Turris – Mark Stone

Mike Hoffman – Mika Zibanejad - Bobby Ryan

Matt Puempel – David Legwand – Alex Chiasson

Erik Condra – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Curtis Lazar

Marc Methot - Erik Karlsson

Patrick Wiercioch - Cody Ceci

Mark Borowiecki – Eric Gryba

Craig Anderson

Andrew Hammond

Scratched: Colin Greening, Jared Cowen.

Injured: Robin Lehner (concussion), Clarke MacArthur (concussion), Chris Phillips (back), Zack Smith (wrist), Chris Neil (thumb).

Status report: Cameron will play the same 18 skaters for the third game in a row. … Wiercioch will play his ninth-straight game, his longest stretch of the season. He was a healthy scratch for 18 games this season, including five in a row in November. … No changes are expected to the Bruins lineup, which is coming off a 5-3 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday.

Who’s hot: Bergeron has a goal and four assists in his past four games. … Spooner has a goal and four assists in his past five games. … Zibanejad has three goals and four assists over a seven-game points streak, the longest of his career. … Stone has three assists in his past three games.