Bruins vs Senators: Prediction, Team News and Boston Without McAvoy

Bruins vs Senators is a rematch of the most lopsided fixture in the Atlantic last season. Ottawa went 3-0-1 against Boston and outscored them 20-10. Boston’s only win needed overtime.

Boston is also without its best defenceman. Charlie McAvoy is serving a six-game suspension and does not come back until the middle of the month.

How to watch

Broadcast listings change and regional blackouts can apply, so check your provider close to puck drop. Our how to watch the NHL in Canada page has the full national picture.

Bruins vs Senators odds

The Canadian books had not posted a price for this game when we checked on 1 October. The feed prices the nearest games first and fills the rest in as they approach. We will add the board once it lands. Live prices across the league are on our NHL odds page.

Boston is without Charlie McAvoy

McAvoy is suspended for six games. It carries over from last season, for a slash on Buffalo’s Zach Benson during the first-round series Boston lost. He is eligible to return on 13 October in San Jose, which puts him out of this one.

He is not a depth loss. McAvoy had 11 goals and 61 points in 69 games at plus 13, and he plays the hardest minutes on the team. Boston has Hampus Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov at plus 18 and Mason Lohrei at plus 17 to cover, which is a reasonable group and not the same thing.

How they compare

Last season’s rates, which travel better from one year to the next than a record does.

Boston still has a 100-point winger

David Pastrnak reached 100 points last season on 29 goals and 71 assists in 77 games. Morgan Geekie scored 39. Pavel Zacha added 30 goals and 65 points.

The summer brought real money moves. Boston sent a 2026 first-round pick and a 2028 first to Utah for JJ Peterka, who scored 25 goals and 47 points there last season. Boston also signed Fraser Minten to a seven-year extension. Minten finished at plus 21, the best mark on the roster, with 17 goals and 35 points.

Jeremy Swayman is a big part of why Boston went 29-11-1 at home last season. He went 31-18-4 at a 2.71 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage across 55 games, and opened this season with a 3-0 shutout of the New York Rangers.

Ottawa has owned this matchup

Four meetings, Ottawa took seven of eight points, and three of them were not close.

Seven goals in Ottawa in October, six in Boston in December. The Senators scored at least five in three of the four, and the one Boston won went to overtime.

Ottawa were the better team on the table too, though barely. They finished ninth on 99 points at plus 32, one point behind Boston’s 100 but with a better goal difference.

Both of these teams went out in the first round

Boston lost to Buffalo. Ottawa was swept 4-0 by Carolina, who went on to win the Stanley Cup. Losing to the eventual champion is the softest way to go out in four, but it was still four.

The bigger change since is Brady Tkachuk. Ottawa traded its captain to Florida in June for two 2026 first-round picks, a conditional 2029 first and a 2027 second. Tim Stützle inherits the attack on the back of an 83-point season, with Drake Batherson on 71 and Dylan Cozens on 59.

Linus Ullmark is the familiar face here, and he knows this building. He went 28-12-8 at 2.73 and .891 with three shutouts last season.

Team news

Boston’s list is short, and McAvoy is the name that decides the shape of the game. Ottawa’s is longer. Ridly Greig serves the second game of a two-game suspension carried over from the playoffs, Jake Sanderson is day to day, and Andre Burakovsky and Matthew Poitras are both listed for the game date itself, so check the morning skate. Availability across the league is on our NHL injury report.

One subplot: Mark Kastelic plays Boston’s fourth line against the club that drafted and developed him. He spent five seasons in Ottawa before the move.

Players to watch

David Pastrnak. A hundred points, and 71 of them assists, which is the part people forget about him.

Tim Stützle. Eighty-three points last season, and five goals and seven points in four games against Boston.

Jeremy Swayman. A shutout on opening night and the best save percentage in this game.

Fraser Minten. Plus 21 on a team that finished plus 22 overall, and a seven-year contract to show what Boston thinks of him.

Score prediction

Ottawa Senators 4-3 Boston Bruins. Ottawa has scored at least five in three of the last four meetings, and Boston is without the defenceman who plays against the other team’s best line.

Bruins vs Senators prediction

Boston is at home, has Swayman, and opened with a shutout. On most nights that’s enough against a team that finished a point behind it.

This is not most nights. Ottawa has won three of the last four against Boston by a combined 18-7, and Boston is missing McAvoy for a fourth straight game. Greig’s suspension, Zub’s injury and Sanderson’s day-to-day status leave Ottawa short as well.

Our lean: Ottawa, and the over if the total sits at 6 or lower. Three of the four meetings last season cleared six goals and two cleared eight. We will firm the Bruins vs Senators call up when the board posts.

Where these two sit against the other 30 is on our NHL power rankings.

19+ (18+ in AB, MB and QC). Odds are approximate at the time of writing and change constantly. Availability varies by province. Please play responsibly. ConnexOntario: 1-866-531-2600 for Ontario residents; see your province’s helpline for resources elsewhere.