Preview: Bruins at Senators

BRUINS (11-8-0) at SENATORS (11-7-1)
7:30 p.m. ET; RDS2, TSN5, NESN, NHL.TV

Bruins team scope

The Boston Bruins, who have lost two of their past three games, will not have captain Zdeno Chara in the lineup against the Ottawa Senators. The defenseman sustained a lower-body injury in the Bruins' 4-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday and is expected to miss at least two games, Bruins coach Claude Julien said. Defenseman Kevan Miller, who has not played this season because of a hand injury, will be a game-time decision. When asked about making up for Chara's absence, Julien said, "We do things by committee here. We've missed [Patrice] Bergeron at the start of the season, we've missed [David] Backes, [David] Pastrnak. We don't use those as excuses. We just move on." Pastrnak will play against the Senators after missing the past three games with an upper-body injury. Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask has won 11 of his 14 starts and is tied with Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens for most wins. Rask has a 1.15 goals-against average in his past seven starts and his 1.57 GAA for the season is the best in the League. Bruins forward David Krejci has two goals in 19 games. Bergeron has three goals in 16 games; he had six goals and 10 assists through 16 games last season.

Senators team scope

The Ottawa Senators are coming off a 4-3 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Tuesday, the first time the Senators scored three or more goals in a game since Oct. 25, a 3-0 win against the Vancouver Canucks in which the third goal was into an empty net. It was the first time since Oct. 18 they had scored at least three goals in a game on a goalie (a 7-4 win against the Arizona Coyotes). "When we really needed it, we put it in the net and that's been missing a bit," said Senators captain Erik Karlsson, who got his 400th NHL point against the Canadiens. "We've been struggling a bit. It was nice to see that the top dogs on our team can score some goals as well when we needed to and at the same time playing solid defensively. That's what we need." Forward Bobby Ryan will play after missing two games with a bruised finger. Forward Derick Brassard has two goals and an assist in his past three games after having four assists in his previous 15 games. The win against the Canadiens came after back-to-back losses. The Senators had a streak of 35 penalty kills in a row end against the Canadiens.

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Matt Belesky -- David Krejci -- David Backes
Ryan Spooner -- Riley Nash -- Austin Czarnik
Tim Schaller -- Dominic Moore -- Jimmy Hayes
Torey Krug -- Adam McQuaid
John-Michael Liles -- Brandon Carlo
Joe Morrow -- Kevan Miller
Tuukka Rask
Zane McIntyre
Scratched: Colin Miller
Injured:Zdeno Chara (lower body), Noel Acciari (lower body)

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Senators projected lineup

Ryan Dzingel -- Kyle Turris -- Bobby Ryan
Mike Hoffman -- Derick Brassard -- Mark Stone
Zack Smith -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Tom Pyatt
Chris Kelly -- Curtis Lazar -- Chris Neil
Marc Methot -- Erik Karlsson
Dion Phaneuf -- Cody Ceci
Mark Borowiecki -- Chris Wideman
Craig Anderson
Mike Condon
Scratched: Max McCormick, Fredrik Claesson
Injured: Clarke MacArthur (concussion)

Status report

Anderson will start his third game in a row for the Senators. … Phaneuf said he will play after missing practice on Wednesday. Claesson was called up from Binghamton of the American Hockey League on Thursday and will take the warmup, but is expected to be scratched. … Carlo, a rookie, had been playing with Chara, but is expected to be paired with Liles against the Senators. ... The Bruins assigned forward Sean Kuraly to Providence of the AHL on Thursday. The 23-year-old had no points in five games this season.

Who's hot

The line of Brassard between Hoffman and Stone combined for eight points against Montreal (three goals, five assists). … Moore has a goal and an assist in his past two games.