Anton Khudobin stopped 44 shots Thursday night and Boston defeated Ottawa 3-1.
The Bruins chose to leave star goalie Tim Thomas in Boston, along with captain Zdeno Chara and Patrice Bergeron, but Khudobin was just as good as Thomas in his debut with the team.
The 25-year-old admitted to having some butterflies early in the game, but was pleased by his overall performance.
Benoit Pouliot, Greg Zanon and Milan Lucic scored for the Bruins.
Jason Spezza scored for the Senators. Ben Bishop, who missed the past four games with a lower body injury, stopped 24 shots.
A win would have allowed the Senators to clinch seventh in the Eastern Conference.
With the Bruins leading 2-1, Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson missed a wide-open net with just over six minutes remaining in the third. The Senators had a number of great chances to tie the game, but were never able to capitalize.
Shortly after, Lucic scored his 26th of the season to make it 3-1.
The Bruins made it 2- 0 early in the second as Zanon’s slap shot from the point caught a piece of Bishop’s glove and trickled across the goal line.
After a number of great chances the Senators, who had outshot the Bruins 17-7 in the first, finally found a way to beat Khudobin at the 13:56 of the second.
Spezza, with his team-leading 34th of the season, fired a shot that hit the post and went in off Khudobin’s back to cut the lead in half.
The Bruins opened the scoring midway through the first period as Pouliot’s tap-in completed a two-on-one with Brian Rolston.
The Bruins won the season series 5-1.
Notes — The Bruins were without injured right wing Nathan Horton (concussion), goaltender Tuukka Rask (groin) and defenseman Johnny Boychuk (sprained knee). Captain Zdeno Chara, goalie Tim Thomas and center Patrice Bergeron, defenseman Mike Mottau and winger Lane MacDermid were healthy scratches.
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