Wideman, Turris score in third, Senators beat Bruins 3-1

His strong all-around game left him with one goal, one assist, a plus-three rating, and six blocked shots in 26:40 of ice time – 4:48 of which was short-handed.

The Senators sit 1 point ahead of the Bruins in the standings, with the Senators sitting in the third spot in the Atlantic while Boston sits just outside the Wild Card spot. Zdeno Chara – who didn’t play tonight after being injured against St. Louis – was getting older, and their recent free agent signings, Matt Beleskey and David Backes, were struggling offensively.

Through 18 games, Carlo and Chara had been paired together, forming a solid top pair of the Bruins.

The B’s entered the final period tied at 1-1, but allowed two goals in a four-minute span during the middle portion of the third for their second straight loss and third defeat in their last four contests. It was a remarkable defensive performance. Joe Morrow, one of the two defensemen split for Bennett’s first-period goal, lost the puck to Bennett behind the net. He’ll get his sixth start in seven games tonight as he looks to build off his second shutout of the season.

Taking that many penalties, again, would be a recipe for disaster. It was nearly by accident Guy Boucher found a combination that might work going forward in Mark Stone, Derick Brassard and Mike Hoffman. The Bruins continue to be a strangely one-dimensional team and that dimension is named Tuukka Rask, who has 11 wins, one off the league lead.

Ottawa Senators’ Kyle Turris blasts a shot past Boston Bruins’ Tuuka Rask during third period NHL hockey action in Ottawa on Thursday, Nov. 24, 2016.

His numbers were even more impressive in the third period, where he was flawless.

It’s a lucky deflection off the knee of Dominic Moore, but for Wideman, it must feel good. Boston is looking to return to the postseason for the first time in three years with the last two seasons seeing them collapse in epic fashion down the stretch.

Less than four minutes later, David Krejci made an ill-advised no-look pass that ended up on the stick of Turris, who made a nifty give-and-go play to be set up by Bobby Ryan for the Sens’ third goal of the game.

There have been some encouraging signs for the Bruins through the first couple of months of the new season.

After garnering a three-game win streak, the Bruins have struggled to regain form. Over at HockeyViz, which you can support here, Micah’s created a cool graphic that displays matchups by ice-time, possession, and pace. He has 8-11-0 lifetime record against the Bruins with a.902 save percentage.

Dion Phaneuf didn’t skate yesterday but it was just a maintenance day and he will be good to go against the Bruins. While Ferland plays on the fourth line at even strength, he’s seen some decent powerplay time this year.

The club lost Ryan Dzingel in the first when he took a deflected shot from Erik Karlsson off the ear, but the speedy winger returned in the second.

This is not a new problem, but it’s concerning on many levels to know how much of Boston’s fate this season is tied to a creaky 39-year-old defenseman who has logged a lot of hard miles in the National Hockey League.

The Senators next play host to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night. “I wrote that on my little wrist tape, that I have to stay in the moment and stay focused and do what I can to help this team win games”.