Marchand scores fifth goal in four games, Bruins defeat Senators

OTTAWA -- The Boston Bruins extended their winning streak to five games and their point streak to nine with a 2-1 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday.

"We weren't clean with the puck early on," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "They bottled up the neutral zone, something we've seen of teams in the past here in Ottawa. It took us awhile to sort of get to our game, where we could get through there and establish a little something. But eventually we got there, and it took everybody. We found a way to win."
The Bruins have outscored opponents 23-9 during their winning streak and are 6-0-3 in their past nine games.
WATCH: [All Bruins vs. Senators Highlights]
Brad Marchand and Zdeno Chara scored in the third period for Boston (17-3-5), and Tuukka Rask made 33 saves for his fifth straight win.
"Best tandem in the League, in our opinion," Cassidy said of Rask and Jaroslav Halak, who made 36 saves in an 8-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday. "We feel that no matter who we put in there every night, the goaltending, very rarely they have an off night. Tuukka was certainly our best player, certainly early on. He made the saves he needed to and a couple late, for that matter."
Thomas Chabot scored, and Anders Nilsson made 19 saves for the Senators (11-13-1), who have lost two in a row in regulation for the first time since Oct. 19-21.
"I thought we worked really hard," Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. "We made a couple of mistakes that ended up in our net, some real good players of theirs scored, we just didn't find a way to score on our chances, but I don't know if we can play much better through [the first] two periods."
Chabot took a pass between his legs from Chris Tierney through the neutral zone, broke in between two Bruins, and scored with a snap shot over Rask's glove to give the Senators a 1-0 lead 41 seconds into the third period. It was his second goal in three games.

"I just saw, pretty much, the entire ice open, so I just gained speed and [Tierney] did a good job giving it to me," Chabot said.
Marchand scored five-hole with a snap shot to tie it 1-1 at 5:15. It was his fifth goal in the past four games.
"I would say, for two periods, we out-chanced them. We'll have to look at the tape, but I would say we out-chanced them, for sure," Smith said. "In the third period, they turned it up a notch and we couldn't hang with them."
Chara gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead at 8:45 with a slap shot from the high slot that beat Nilsson glove side.
"If he's got that time, he can just blast it," Rask said. "He can shoot it. That was as wide open as he's been in a while."

They said it

"It's a class act, something I didn't expect. Usually I get a little heads up before the game, but it's such an overwhelming reaction. My time here was always, I only have great memories. The fans are so supportive of this team in this city. I made a lot of friends, close friends that I'm still in touch with until today. I can't thank them enough. Every time I played for [the Senators] there was 100 percent support."-- Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara, who played 299 games with the Senators, on receiving a standing ovation for playing his 1,500th NHL game Nov. 5
"We had them. We played real well. I think, what, halfway through the game they only had six shots on net. It was a good game. Obviously we made the little mistakes on that second goal in our own zone and it ended up in the back of our net, but I think we still did a good job tonight."-- Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot
"It's tough to not get rewarded for the work we did tonight. We shut them down basically completely throughout the whole game. But they've got some skilled, good players and they don't need too many opportunities to put the puck in the net." -- Senators goalie Anders Nilsson

Need to know

The Bruins, who have the NHL's second-best power play at 32.0 percent, were 0-for-2. … Marchand has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in a five-game point streak. … Forward Brendan Gaunce had an assist in Bruins debut. He was recalled from Providence of the American Hockey League on Monday. … The Senators have scored one goal in their past two games. … Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki had a game-high eight hits. … Senators defenseman Erik Brannstrom had two shots in 12:27 after missing four games with a hand injury.

What's next

Bruins: Host the New York Rangers on Friday (1 p.m. ET; NBC)
Senators:At the Minnesota Wild on Friday (4 p.m. ET; FS-N, FS-WI, RDS2, TSN5, NHL.TV)