Oct 27, 2025; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman (1) reacts to a goal scored by the Ottawa Senators in the first period at the Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-IMAGN Images
Thanks to a goal from Morgan Geekie on their first shot of the night, the Bruins started Monday's showdown with the Senators as well as they could have. They also ended it as poorly as they could have, though, as the Bruins surrendered seven straight goals on the way to an ugly, 7-2 blowout loss in Ottawa.
And it was the Black and Gold's third period that really doomed them in this one, with the Sens connecting for four goals on just 10 shots in the final frame, and with three of those strikes coming with the Sens on the man advantage.
Overall, Ottawa's power-play unit went 4-for-5 in the victory.
Beyond the raw success of Ottawa's power play, the eventual blowout highlighted the difference in the 'timely' scoring aspect of each team's unit.
Beginning the third period, the Bruins were down by just two. But Nikita Zadorov was whistled for interference just eight seconds into the third period, and it took the Sens' Tim Stützle just five seconds to put the Sens on the board and push their lead to three. And when Charlie McAvoy was called for tripping Stützle, the German-born forward needed just 15 seconds to push the lead out to four.
In between those power-play tallies for the Sens, the Bruins got their first and only power-play opportunity of the night, and failed to convert. In fact, they failed to do much of anything with that power-play opportunity, and finished the two-minute opportunity with just one shot on the Ottawa goal.
To make matters worse, the Senators entered play with the third-worst penalty kill in the league, and the Bruins simply didn't do enough to make them sweat or force them to the kill enough in this contest.
In goal, Jeremy Swayman took the loss with a 17-of-24 peformance, while the Sens' Leevi Merilainen captured the win with 27 saves. Now the sixth different backup netminder the Bruins have drawn to this point this season (excluding teams with injured starters), Merilainen entered play with a .731 save percentage, and the Bruins hardly did much to make him sweat in this contest.
A blast by the Bruins' Viktor Arvidsson with 9.7 seconds left in the game did give the B's a second goal for their troubles, giving him two goals in as many games.
With the loss, the Bruins have now dropped seven of their last eight games after beginning the season on a three-game winning streak.
The Bruins will now return home for a Tuesday night head-to-head with the Islanders at TD Garden. That game will have a 7:15 p.m. puck drop.
