BOSTON —  It was just 10 days ago that the Boston Bruins last saw the Ottawa Senators, and suffered a crushing 7-2 loss that extended a losing streak that looked to derail their season before it ever really began.

As the two teams reconvened on Thursday at TD Garden, the Bruins showed to the Senators, and everyone else for that matter, that they are a different team than they were, winning in overtime, 3-2, for their fifth-straight victory.

“It was big motivation for us,” Pavel Zacha said. “We lost a game there and lost pretty badly. Before the game, we were motivated to give it back, and I’m happy that we won.” 

It was Zacha who provided the winning-goal for Boston with just 5.6 seconds left on the clock in overtime. After Charlie McAvoy skated laps around the attacking end for what felt like an eternity, he fired a puck on net that Zacha pushed in for his fourth goal of the season.

PAV GETS US TWO POINTS ✌️ pic.twitter.com/PqzBzID8Vu

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 7, 2025

Boston led 2-1 with under 10 minutes to play in the third period. But just after they finished killing off a penalty, they allowed Claude Giroux to tie the score for Ottawa on a shot that Joonas Korpisalo (20 saves on 22 shots) stopped most of, but not all.

Ten days ago, that would’ve been a backbreaker for the Bruins. One that would’ve basically guaranteed a late-game collapse. Since then, though, the Bruins have learned their lesson.

“What we learned during that losing streak is just to hang around for a second and don’t shoot yourself in the foot,” said Sean Kuraly. “After a goal, let’s go out there and let’s get a couple of shifts. Number one is just keeping it out of our net. Then, eventually, they’ll make a mistake, too.”

Ottawa’s opening goal at 5:42 of the first period also could’ve sent Boston reeling.

As the Senators accelerated out of their zone and through the middle of the ice, Jonathan Aspirot tried to step up at the blue line in an effort to slow them down. But instead of landing a big hit, all he caught was a bunch of air. Without him or the trailing Morgan Geekie back in time, Michael Amadio had no issue finishing off a two-on-one chance.

But Geekie more than made up for his defensive lapse when he tied the game at 1:22 of the middle frame. A rocket off the stick of Andrew Peeke from above the face-off circle was too much for Senators goalie Linus Ullmark to handle cleanly. With the puck loose in the crease, Geekie pounced on it to score his team-leading 10th goal of the season.

Peeke was all over the ice and the stat sheet for the Bruins, contributing two assists and two blocked shots, even after taking a painful hit near the Bruins’ bench in the second period that had him hunched over for more than a moment.

“We have a grinder award, and that’s why after today he got it,” Bruins coach Marco Sturm said of Peeke. “It’s not coming from me. It’s coming from the players. They realized he took a pretty big hit, came back quickly, and wasn’t shy at all. That’s why he’s big for our team because he does the dirty work.” 

Boston jumped in front later on in the period when Kuraly collected a pass from Tanner Jeannot at the dot, and snapped it underneath the crossbar for his second goal of the season. As was customary during his first run with the Bruins, Kuraly celebrated with a patented leap into the boards.

“It was overdue,” said Kuraly. “It wasn’t rehearsed, but the second it went in, I knew what I had to do.”

The triumphant return of the Kura-leap ⬆️ pic.twitter.com/GpHEEaVMbc

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 7, 2025

Kuraly was one of several players who had to log extra minutes for the Bruins after John Beecher suffered an upper-body injury at the end of the first period and did not return. The Bruins did not have an update on his status after the game.

Boston will visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.

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