Bruins strike late to overcome streaking Senators
Ottawa Senators left wing Colin Greening (L), Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas (C) and Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara watch the puck in the third period of their NHL hockey game in Boston, Massachusetts November 1, 2011. Reuters

(Reuters) - The Boston Bruins ended a three-game losing run with a 5-3 home victory over the in-form Ottawa Senators in a battle of divisional rivals on Tuesday.

The two Northeast Division teams had been heading in opposite directions prior to the contest but the last-placed Bruins (4-7-0) used a third-period surge to derail a Senators team that had won their last six games.

Boston's Johnny Boychuk scored the decisive goal to break a 3-3 tie at 6:41 in the third and Daniel Paille added the final score 37 seconds later to give the Stanley Cup champions a much-needed triumph.

Tonight was a start, and it has to carry over to next game, Bruins coach Claude Julien told reporters.

I guess if we keep playing the way we did tonight and win hockey games, that confidence comes back.

Ottawa (7-6-0), who had enjoyed their longest winning streak in two seasons, scored first-period goals via Nick Foligno, who also had two assists, and Stephane Da Costa to grab a 2-1 advantage.

Patrice Bergeron and Chris Kelly responded with Bruins' goals in the second to put Boston 3-2 ahead before Senators defenseman Jared Cowen tied the score at 5:04 in the third.

Goaltender Craig Anderson made 36 saves in the loss while Tim Thomas stopped 23 shots for Boston.

The Senators had made a recent habit of prevailing in close games, with their last five wins coming in one-goal affairs, but their fortune ran thin against the Bruins.

A cat's got nine lives, so maybe we used up a few of those in these couple of games, Anderson said.

We're learning still. When you're not feeling great and you get the game 3-3, you've got to find a way to shut the other team down and just get a point (for an overtime loss).

(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by John O'Brien)