BOSTON — David Krejci and Marc Savard scored 4:16 apart midway through the third period to help the Boston Bruins beat the Ottawa Senators 6-4 on Thursday night.
Boston won for the 11th time in 13 games, while Ottawa lost for the seventh time in its last eight games.
Krejci put the Bruins ahead 4-3 when he stole the puck from Daniel Alfredsson at the side of the net and backhanded a shot past toward goalie Martin Gerber. Gerber blocked it back to Krejci, who knocked in the rebound at 10:13 of the third period.
Savard gave Boston a two-goal advantage with 5:31 remaining, and P.J. Axelsson scored an empty-net goal with 41 seconds left. Savard also had two assists and leads the Bruins with 52 points.
Brendan Bell tied it 3 for Ottawa with 5:28 remaining in the second when he converted a pass from Dean McAmmond and beat Fernandez.
Boston avoided losing three straight for the second time this season.
After struggling through an unusual two-game losing streak, Boston took a 2-0 lead 4:15 into the first period. Aaron Ward’s slap shot beat Gerber at 2:20, and Chuck Kobasew drove to the net and knocked in Dennis Wideman’s shot for a two-goal lead.
Chris Phillips cut Boston’s lead in half when his wrist shot squeezed through a screened Manny Fernandez at 12:14 of the first period.
The teams traded goals midway through the second period. Michael Ryder made it 3-1 when he jammed home the rebound of Blake Wheeler’s shot at 8:44, and Chris Kelly narrowed cut it to 3-2 after taking advantage of Wideman’s turnover.
Gerber allowed five goals on 22 shots for Ottawa, 1-13-3 in its last 17 road games. The Senators’ lone win came on Dec. 30 in Edmonton.
Ottawa’s Antoine Vermette scored his fourth goal of the season with 28 seconds remaining.
Notes@ Ottawa’s Jarkko Ruutu served the first game of a two-game suspension for biting Buffalo’s Andrew Peters. … Marc Savard played in his 700th game. … Jason Spezza’s first-period assist extended his point streak to five games. … Boston beat Ottawa for the fourth consecutive time. … Milan Lucic missed the game because of an undisclosed injury.
Scoring Summary:
1. BOS Ward (1) (Krejci, Ryder) 2:20
1. BOS Kobasew (7) (Wideman, Kessel) 4:15
1. OTT Phillips (3) (Spezza, Heatley) 12:14
2. BOS Ryder (15) (Wheeler, Savard) 8:44
2. OTT Kelly (5) (Vermette, Winchester) 10:08
2. OTT Bell (3) (McAmmond, Neil) 14:32
3. BOS Krejci (15) (Unassisted) 10:13
3. BOS Savard (14) (Kobasew) 14:29
3. BOS Axelsson (3) (Savard) (EN) 19:19
3. OTT Vermette (4) (Kelly, Winchester) 19:32
Penalty Summary:
1. OTT Neil- Fighting 8:47
1. BOS Thornton- Fighting 8:47
2. OTT Bell- Tripping 3:05
2. OTT Heatley- Tripping 14:47
3. BOS Wheeler- Slashing 4:34
Goalies:
OTT Martin Gerber (4-9-1): 21 shots, 16 saves (1 en)
BOS Manny Fernandez (14-3-1): 30 shots, 26 saves
Shots on Goal:
OTT 13-9-8=30
BOS 6-6-10=22
Power Plays:
OTT 0-for-1
BOS 0-for-2
Three Stars of the Game:
1- BOS Marc Savard
2- BOS David Krejci
3- BOS Chuck Kobasew