Final observations

– There’s no denying that Zdeno Chara still needs to shake off some rust after missing 19 games with his knee injury. The Bruins’ captain took his second penalty – and fourth since returning to the box – after being called for interference 3:16 into the final stanza. This time, the Sens made the Black and Gold pay as David Legwand tied it up at 2-2 on the man advantage (61 seconds after Chara’s minor).

– Another line change for Milan Lucic might have brought out the best of him. After skating with Craig Cunningham and Chris Kelly during the third period of Thursday’s loss with the Blackhawks, the 6-foot-4 followed his domination of Mark Borowiecki and pancaked Patrick Weircioch with a clean hit in the neutral zone. That helped send Craig Cunningham on a mini-breakaway to try to take the lead, but his shot hit the crossbar.

– Patrice Bergeron was slashed on the hand by Mike Hoffman late in the third period and went to the Bruins locker room. He did return for the start of overtime. The Hub of Hockey is certainly breathing a sigh of relief after that.

– Tuukka Rask’s save on Bobby Ryan toward the end of overtime was arguably his best of the season.

– Brad Marchand redeemed himself with his goal in the shootout. So did Ryan after scoring the shootout winner.

– This is the Bruins second extra session of the post “dry scrape” era. Hopefully that will never be discussed again. Ending the shootout, on the other hand, would be okay if you poll hockey fans.

Second period hits

– Brad Marchand’s rough game continued in the second. Following his missed chance on an open net, his penalty and taking a stick to the hand in the first period, Marchand turned the puck over that lead to Mika Zibanejad’s eighth of the season to tie the game at 1-1 just 2:24 into the middle stanza.

– A couple of thoughts on the Milan Lucic fight with Matt Borowiecki. On one hand, the Bruins were in the attacking end and cycling the puck to try to create offense. The other side of the argument: Browoiecki elbowed Lucic, and the Bruins’ power forward needed to respond in some capacity. Either way, I’m sure Claude Julien is pleased with Lucic sticking up for himself.

– Daniel Paille just can’t buy a goal after hitting the post on a pass from Torey Krug. If only he had softer hands.

– The Dallas Stars are still the clear winners of the Tyler Seguin trade, but Loui Eriksson is starting to show a bit of promise. The Swede tallied his fifth of the season and second in his last three games. That goal gave him eight points (three goals, five assists) in eight career games against the Senators.

– Tuukka Rask saw a lot of rubber during the second period and looked a little shaky. But he bounced back nicely with a big save on Colin Greening towards the end of the middle 20. B’s are now trailing 24-17 in shots (15-7 during the second) and are 4-8-1 when being outshot. The Sens are 2-1-2 this season when they’re outshooting their opponents.

First period hits

– With Zdeno Chara in the box – his third penalty since returning to the lineup Thursday night – Brad Marchand had an opportunity to cash in on an early Christmas present after stealing the puck from Robin Lehner. The Sens starter couldn’t get back in position and Marchand had a wide open net to shoot at, but his shot was blocked by 2012 Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson.

-The frustrations continued for “The Little Ball of Hate” after he was called for tripping at 11:12 of the second period in the Bruins’ attacking end. But not all was lost after Craig Cunningham scored his first career NHL goal. It’s a goal that Lehner would like to have back for sure after the puck went through the five-hole. I could even hear the thud from his pads from my perch on Level 9.

– Torey Krug is throwing his body around early on. The 5-foot-9 defenseman is not known for his physical play, but his toughness and defensive play have improved during his second full season in the National Hockey League.

– Chris Kelly stepped in for his teammates after Andrew Shaw delivered a late hit to Milan Lucic on Thursday night. Two days later, he’s still throwing his weight around against his former team. Kelly’s cap hit is a bit of an issue, but his leadership will never be questioned.

– The Bruins are getting some good traffic in front of Lehner and have a 10-9 shots on goal advantage to show for it.

– Bruins are 8-5-0 when they score first and 7-3-0 when leading after 20 minutes. Sens are 6-6-1 when giving up the first goal, but are an impressive 5-2-1 when trailing after the first.

Quick pregame hits

– Even with Zdeno Chara back, Claude Julien is still mixing and matching his defensive pairings and forwards. That was hardly the case for the latter last season and up until the injury to Dennis Seidenberg, he rarely switched pairings on the blue line, either. Here is how the lineup looked during warmups:

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Reilly Smith
Matt Fraser-Carl Soderberg-Loui Eriksson
Milan Lucic-Chris Kelly-Craig Cunningham
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Seth Griffith

Zdeno Chara-Dougie Hamilton
Dennis Seidenberg-Zach Trotman
Torey Krug-Kevan Miller

– Tuukka Rask is making his fourth straight start this afternoon. In 10 games played against the Senators, the Finnish netminder has a pretty good track record: 6-2-0 overall to go along with .212 goals against average, .930 save percentage and two shutouts. Although none of the goals he allowed on Thursday night against the Blackhawks were his fault, he has a good chance to put that start behind him and improve his numbers against a team that he knows well.

– The Senators made headlines earlier in the week when they fired head coach Paul MacLean after three-plus seasons. Dave Cameron, who was an assistant under MacLean, made his coaching debut in Ottawa’s 5-3 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.

We’re about 15 minutes away from puck drop. Keep it here on Bruins Daily for all your Bruins-Senators coverage this afternoon and follow us on Twitter for live game updates @BruinsDaily.