Senators at Bruins preview

SENATORS (11-15-8) at BRUINS (19-10-5)
7 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, NESN, TSN5, NHL.TV

The Bruins have points in five straight games and are 7-1-1 in their past nine. Goaltender Tuukka Rask will attempt to extend his point streak to 10 games; he's 8-0-1 in his past nine starts and has not lost in regulation since a 4-2 defeat against the Edmonton Oilers on Nov. 26.
The Senators are 0-2-1 in their past three games and 0-5-2 in their past seven on the road. Goaltender Craig Anderson is expected to make his fifth start in six games; he missed a 1-0 loss at the Florida Panthers on Saturday because of illness.

Players to watch

Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson has four points (two goals, two assists) in his past four games.
Bruins forward Brad Marchand has 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in his past 12 games.

They said it

"Yeah, I think that we all know where we are, sort of. It's not something that's on our mind right now. We've got to take it day by day and game by game and see what we can create for ourselves here." -- Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson on the Senators being 29th in the NHL standings
"I thought it was good timing for us. We've had some guys under the weather. When you're playing well, you always want to keep at it, so I don't think it was that long. We've got three [games] in four days, so we'll get right back in the swing of it." -- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy on the timing of the holiday break

Senators projected lineup

Ryan Dzingel -- Matt Duchene -- Alexandre Burrows
Nate Thompson -- Derick Brassard -- Mark Stone
Mike Hoffman -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Tom Pyatt
Nick Paul -- Filip Chlapik -- Bobby Ryan
Johnny Oduya -- Erik Karlsson
Dion Phaneuf -- Cody Ceci
Fredrik Claesson -- Thomas Chabot
Craig Anderson
Mike Condon
Scratched: Ben Harpur](https://www.nhl.com/player/ben-harpur-8477433)
Injured:Zack Smith (shoulder), Chris Wideman (hamstring), Mark Borowiecki (concussion), Gabriel Dumont (ankle)

Bruins projected lineup

Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk -- Ryan Spooner -- Anders Bjork
Danton Heinen -- Riley Nash -- David Backes
Tim Schaller -- Sean Kuraly -- Noel Acciari
Zdeno Chara -- Charlie McAvoy
Torey Krug -- Brandon Carlo
Matt Grzelcyk -- Kevan Miller
Tuukka Rask
Anton Khudobin
Scratched: Paul Postma, Frank Vatrano, Adam McQuaid
Injured: David Krejci (upper body), Peter Cehlarik (lower body)

Status report

Ottawa did not hold a morning skate. Harpur was called up from Belleville of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. Ryan will return after missing one game with a finger injury. Phaneuf will play after missing two games for personal reasons. ... McQuaid is healthy enough to play but will miss his 29th straight game after recovering from a broken fibula.

Stat pack

Brassard has four points (two goals, two assists) in his past three games. … Pastrnak has 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in his past 15 games and points in 13 of them.