With win, Bruins move atop East

TIM THOMAS and the Boston Bruins have put their lost October well behind them. Thomas made 47 saves, Daniel Paille scored twice and visiting Boston extended its winning streak to three games with a 5-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators last night.

Rich Peverley and Patrice Bergeron each had a goal and an assist and Chris Kelly also scored for the reigning Stanley Cup champions, who won for the second night in a row to move atop the Eastern Conference standings. Andrew Ference had two assists.

Boston, which went 3-7 in October, has 41 points and one more win than the Flyers.

"We were behind the 8-ball there at the beginning of the season," Thomas said. "It was a tough start for us and tough overcoming that Stanley Cup hangover. We've definitely turned it around."

The Bruins have gone 17-2-1 since Nov. 1, when they launched a 10-game winning streak with a 5-3 win over Ottawa.

"To be honest, I didn't know that," said Kelly, who restored Boston's one-goal lead in the second. "I think that's maybe a good thing, that we're just playing every game. There are still points of our game that we can get better at and that's not necessarily a bad thing."

Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza each had a goal and an assist for the Senators, on a 2-4-2 skid despite an overtime win at Buffalo a night earlier.

"They're a team that we know clogs it up in the neutral zone very well," Alfredsson said. "Unfortunately, we couldn't get as many goals as we would have liked on the chances we created in the first two periods."

Craig Anderson stopped 24 shots for Ottawa.

Boston captain Zdeno Chara. missed his second straight game after injuring his left knee Saturday in Columbus.

In other games:

* At St. Paul, Patrick Kane's goal in the second round of a shootout clinched the Chicago Blackhawks' fifth straight victory on the road, 4-3 over the Minnesota Wild in a matchup of the top two teams in the West.

* At Anaheim, Niklas Hagman scored twice and Jonas Hiller made 19 saves for the Ducks in a 4-1 win over the Phoenix Coyotes.

Buffalo Sabres forward Ville Leino is out indefinitely after sustaining what the team is calling a lower body injury.