The Boston Bruins defeated the Ottawa Senators 4-3 on Tuesday night in front of the 108th consecutive sellout crowd at TD Garden. In a rematch of the All Star Game captains, Team Chara prevailed over Team Alfredsson once again (though this time by a slimmer margin).

Krejci didn't find the net against the Sens on Tuesday, but his line played well in the absence of Nathan Horton

In the first game after coming back from the All Star break, the Boston Bruins looked a little sluggish compared to the Senators, especially in the early minutes. The Bruins found their legs thanks to the speedy combination of Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin on the second line. The duo produced several chances in the first period, one of which led to a tripping penalty and a Bruins power play. Zdeno Chara used his all-time NHL fastest 108 MPH slap shot from the point to beat a screened Craig Anderson and give the Bruins a 1-0 lead on the power play. The Bruins seemed to be in the driver’s seat, leading the game and dominating in the two fights that erupted during the first period. However, with just over a minute to go in the period, the senators capitalized on a long rebound given by Tim Thomas, with Milan Michalek steering the puck towards the front of the net where Colin Greening redirected it past Thomas.

The second period saw the Bruins get thoroughy outplayed, as the Senators used their speed advantage to create a few high-quality scoring chances. The Sens capitalized on two of those chances as Kyle Turris and then Erik Karlsson each executed an odd-man rush to put the Senators up 3-1. But the Bruins took advantage of a bad Senators change in the final minute of the period, and Boston’s first line capitalized on a three-on-two with Milan Lucic rifling a wrister from the slot past Craig Anderson. That goal gave the Bruins a momentum boost that carried over well into the third period.

The speedy combination of Seguin and Marchand created another power play for the Bruins at the beginning of the period, and Marchand tied the game up with a hard-working goal as he willed the puck behind Anderson and over the goal line. A few minutes later, the Bruins took the lead on a bizarre play. Dennis Seidenberg, skating past the center ice red-line, fired a slap shot towards Anderson that seemed to skip off the ice, eluding the goaltender and finding the back of the net. The fluky goal set TD Garden into a frenzy. In the minutes following the goal the game opened up even more, with quality scoring chances coming at both ends (both goalies had to be sharp during this stretch). The Bruins held on to win despite several flurries of activity around Tim Thomas.

Tuesday night marked the Bruins 6th victory in which the squad overcame a two-period deficit to win the game in the third period. These are the games that set apart championship teams from others.