With losses in three straight including both games since the holiday break, the Bruins will look to get back on track Tuesday night when they host the Ottawa Senators in the second half of a home-and-home with their Atlantic Division rivals.

Speaking of the division, things continue to be extremely congested in the division. Thanks to their shootout with over the Lightning in Tampa last night, the Montreal Canadiens have leapfrogged the Florida Panthers to reclaim first in the division. The Bruins and Senators are tied for fourth with 42 points each, three behind the Habs.

The Bruins had their chance to create some space between themselves and the team from Canada’s capital, but they couldn’t get the job done despite 39 shots on goal. After losing Torey Krug in Saturday’s loss to the Sabres, David Krejci left Sunday’s contest with an upper-body injury. Krug is listed as day-to-day and skated this morning. Krejci, on the other hand, is week-to-week. It appears that Krejci will indeed miss Friday’s Winter Classic game against the Canadiens.

Gametime: 7:00 p.m.
TV/Radio: NESN/98.5 The Sports Hub
Records: Bruins 19-12-4 (42 points), Senators 18-12-6 (42 points)
Location: TD Garden

Bruins projected lines:

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Brett Connolly
Matt Beleskey-Ryan Spooner-Loui Eriksson
Frank Vatrano-Landon Ferraro-Jimmy Hayes
Zac Rinaldo-Max Talbot-Tyler Randell

Zdeno Chara-Adam McQuaid
Dennis Seidenberg-Zach Trotman
Joe Morrow-Kevan Miller

Tuukka Rask
Jonas Gustavsson

Senators projected lines:

Zack Smith-Kyle Turris-Mark Stone
Mike Hoffman-Mika Zibanejad-Bobby Ryan
David Dziurzynski-Jean-Gabriel Pageau-Alex Chiasson
Shane Prince-Max McCormick-Chris Neil

Marc Methot-Erik Karlsson
Patrick Wiercioch-Mark Borowiecki
Jared Cowen-Chris Wideman

Craig Anderson
Andrew Hammond

Matchup to watch: Bruins power play vs. Senators penalty kill

The Bruins struggling power play will now be without two of it’s top power play players as Krug and Krejci remain out of the lineup (Photo credit: Joe Makarski/Bruins Daily)

With Krejci and Krug out of the lineup tonight, the Bruins power play will be without two of their top five point scorers on the man advantage. The Bruins have failed to score a power play goal in their last four games and are just three for their last 20. The Black and Gold will look to break that trend against a stingy Senators penalty kill tonight. Ottawa killed off both Bruins power plays in Sunday’s win.

After Krejci departed Sunday’s contest, we saw a lot more of Zdeno Chara on the man advantage, who was much more active in moving the puck. It will be interesting to see what head coach Claude Julien does with his power play units tonight.

Storyline to watch: Can Spooner take advantage of Krejci’s absence?

With the injury to Krejci, Ryan Spooner will slide into his spot on the Bruins’ second line (Photo credit: Joe Makarski/Bruins Daily)

No one ever wants to see a teammate get hurt, especially when that teammate is as important to the team as Krejci is. But Krejci’s injury means someone needs to step up in his absence, and the Bruins hope Ryan Spooner does just that.

Spooner will center Matt Beleskey and Loui Eriksson tonight as his minutes are expected to increase. The speedy forward currently sits fifth on the team in points with 22. The increase of ice time and more talented wingers should only do good for the 23-year old Spooner, who looks to open some more eyes.

A golden opportunity has presented itself. What Spooner does with it remains to be seen.