While the Boston Bruins let a valuable point slip away against the lowly Sabres Tuesday night, the Ottawa Senators took care of business in overtime against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens now trail Boston by four points with one game in hand with less than a month to go in the regular season.

The Black and Gold fired 45 shots on Sabres’ Anders Lindback, but only came away with one goal in 65 minutes. Loui Eriksson scored his 18th goal of the year to give the B’s a 1-0 lead, but Boston couldn’t build a lead letting Buffalo hang around where eventually they tied the score and won in a shootout.

Now Claude Julien’s team must turn their attention to a Senators team that is chasing them in the standings.

On Boston.com: Matchup of significance with Sens awaits Bruins

The Black and Gold took care of the Sens nine days ago in Ottawa behind two goals by Ryan Spooner while Tuukka Rask did the rest. On the season, Boston holds a 2-0-2 record against Bobby Ryan and company.

Ottawa has won four games in a row and own an impressive 8-1-1 record in their last 10 games. The B’s are 7-1-2 during that same span, but they are coming off a crushing shootout loss to the last place Sabres and have scored just five goals in their last 12 periods of hockey.

If there was ever a game where the hometown team needs a quick start, it’s tonight in Ottawa against a very hot team.

Here is your complete Bruins-Senators preview:

Gametime: 7:30 PM
Records: Bruins 36-23-11 (83 points)/Senators 34-24-11 (79 points)
TV/Radio: NESN, 98.5 The Sports Hub
Location: Canadian Tire Centre

Bruins’ projected lines:

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Reilly Smith
Milan Lucic-Ryan Spooner-David Pastrnak
Chris Kelly-Carl Soderberg-Loui Eriksson
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Max Talbot

Zdeno Chara-Dougie Hamilton
Matt Bartkowski-Dennis Seidenberg
Torey Krug-Adam McQuaid

Tuukka Rask
Niklas Svedberg

Senators’ projected lines:

Mike Hoffman-Mika Zibanejad-Bobby Ryan
Milan Michalek-Kyle Turris-Mark Stone
Curtis Lazar-Jean-Gabriel Pageau-Erik Condra
Matt Puempel-David Legwand-Alex Chiasson

Marc Methot-Erik Karlsson
Patrick Wiercioch-Cody Ceci
Jared Cowen-Mark Borowiecki

Andrew Hammond
Chris Driedger

Who to watch for Bruins: Loui Eriksson

If there was one player who was dominant Tuesday night for the Black and Gold, it was Eriksson. He scored the lone goal for the B’s albeit a lucky one, but give the right-winger credit, he made himself available in front of the net and got great position to tip in the rebound off an errant shot by Adam McQuaid.

Eriksson finished the night with five shots in over 21 minutes of ice time. The trio of Eriksson, Carl Soderberg and Chris Kelly were the best line on the ice producing 14 shots, but had just the one goal to show for it.

The 29 year-old now has four goals in his last eight games to go along with one assist. Eriksson is now up to 40 points (18 goals and 22 assists) on the season ranking him tied for second on the team in scoring along with Brad Marchand.

Eriksson scored a highlight-reel goal last time these two teams met. Will history repeat itself for the second year Bruin?

Who to watch for Senators: Andrew Hammond

All of the buzz in Ottawa right now is surrounding Andrew Hammond. The 27 year-old has appeared in 13 games for the Senators and owns a ridiculous 11-0-1 record.

Hammond, aka “the Hamburglar”, hasn’t allowed more than two goals in any game this season to go along with two shutouts. He is the main reason the Senators are still breathing to this point.

In the last meeting against the B’s, the Senators rolled with Craig Anderson which was a poor decision by their organization. Hammond is playing as well as any goaltender in the league right now including his counterpart, Tuukka Rask.

Goals have been hard to come by for the B’s as it is. Pair that up with the hottest goaltender in the league and we may have some problems in Ottawa.

Game Day Edge: Quick start, build lead

If it wasn’t evident Tuesday night against the Sabres, the Black and Gold cannot be content with holding a one-goal lead. Even against the worst team in the league, a single shot can change the complexion of the game.

The B’s held the Sabres to three shots in the first period and 10 shots through 40 minutes, but could never build a lead. That cannot happen against Ottawa. The Senators are a much more developed team than the Sabres to say the least.

Boston has had great success against the Sens this year including six points in four games, but they cannot leave Ottawa with less than two points. This is a must-win game for both teams.

Buckle up, we should be in for a good one!