2 takeaways from Senators' thrilling 6-5 shootout win against Bruins

After Thursday's 1-0 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals, the Ottawa Senators remained at home for the second consecutive game as they started their third back-to-back of 2025 against the Boston Bruins.

The Senators won the first meeting against the Bruins 3-2 in overtime on Nov. 9 in Beantown. The Senators and Bruins would need another overtime and a shootout to determine a winner in one of the best regular season games of the season.

In a chippy and thrilling game all throughout, the Senators defeated the Bruins 6-5 in a shootout at Canadian Tire Centre to improve to 23-18-4 on the season.

The win now puts the Senators ahead of the Bruins in the Eastern Conference standings. In a game the Senators needed to have, it once looked ugly in the third period, but the Senators refused to quit.

2. Never give up

The Senators found themselves trailing 5-3 late in the third period. Trailing by two, the Senators would pull Leevi Merilainen for the extra attacker, it would work out perfectly.

Nick Jensen ended a 15-game goal drought by scoring a goal to cut the deficit to 5-4 with 3:13 remaining in regulation. With under 15 seconds to go, Josh Norris scored his second goal of the game and 17th goal of the season to tie the game at five.

The Senators' two late third period goals would force overtime. Although both teams had quality scoring chances, the score would be tied at five and a shootout would be needed. Tim Stutzle scored the only shootout goal to win the game for the Senators.

Even when the Senators appeared to be down and out for the entire third period, they found a way to come alive and tie the game in the clutch. The Senators finished with 44 shots on goal against Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman.

1. Five allowed in a win, but take the win

Over the past four games, Merilainen was incredibly hot in goal for the Senators with going 3-0-1 record. Merilainen allowed in just three goals and recorded two shutouts in the four games. All hot streaks are bound to come to an end at some point, and the time came Merilainen's streak to end.

Merilainen allowed in a career high five goals against the Bruins. Trailing 2-0 in the first period, the Bruins scored two goals to tie the game before the period ended, then scored another two goals in the second period and scored one goal in the third period. David Pastrnak recorded his third consecutive three-point game.

Although Merilainen did allow in five goals, he did stop seven of eight shots on goal by the Bruins in the third period. In overtime, Merilainen made a big stop on Nikita Zadorov to keep the game tied at five. Merilainen stopped all three attempts by the Bruins in the shootout. The final stop was on Pavel Zacha to end the shootout.

The Senators have a quick turnaround in under 24 hours as they meet the New Jersey Devils tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET at Prudential Center. The Devils defeated the Senators in the first meeting 3-1 on Oct. 17 in Ottawa.