Senators beat Bruins 7-2 to extend win streak to three

The Ottawa Senators routed the Boston Bruins 7-2 on Monday night at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, extending Ottawa’s winning streak to three games. Drake Batherson and Tim Stutzle each had two goals and an assist, Leevi Merilainen made 26 saves in what the club called a confidence-boosting performance, and the Senators converted four power-play goals en route to a dominant victory.

Boston opened the scoring when Morgan Geekie finished on the Bruins’ first shot of the game at 3:06 of the first period after a defensive-zone turnover by Ottawa. Batherson answered with a power-play goal midway through the opening period to tie the game, and Claude Giroux put Ottawa ahead early in the second with a redirected finish. Batherson added a second goal before the third period, and Stutzle’s contributions helped the Senators pull away, with Nick Cousins and Fabian Zetterlund also scoring in the final frame. Viktor Arvidsson added a late goal for Boston with less than 10 seconds remaining.

Merilainen, 23, rebounded from a rough outing earlier this month in which he surrendered seven goals in his only previous start. The young goaltender had been reassigned to the club’s American Hockey...