Boston, MA (My Sportsbook) - Phil Kessel scored twice and P.J. Axelsson added a goal and an assist as the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Bruins got by the Ottawa Senators, 5-3, at TD Banknorth Garden.

Aaron Ward and Chuck Kobasew also tallied for Boston, which was coming off consecutive losses to the New York Rangers and Columbus. The Bruins claimed only their second win in the last seven contests, but remained points six ahead of New Jersey for top seed in the East.

Tim Thomas stopped 25-of-28 shots for Boston.

Jason Spezza had a pair of goals, while Christoph Schubert added a marker for the Senators, who had a four-game winning streak halted.

Alex Auld made 17 saves for Ottawa.

With the Bruins holding a 3-1 lead after two, Boston went up by three 4:31 into the third when it caught the Senators in a line change and broke out 2- on-1. Kessel carried the puck across the blue line and snapped a wrister over Auld's glove.

However, Ottawa struck for two goals within four minutes. First, it was Schubert lighting the lamp at 6:52, then Spezza got his second of the contest at 9:05 when he beat Thomas with a wrist shot from in close to make it a 4-3 game.

Ottawa continued to get the majority of the quality chances the rest of the way, but were unable to get the equalizer and Kessel's empty net tally sealed the win for Boston with just under a minute to play.

"They looked a little bit fragile when we scored to make it 4-2," Senators head coach Cory Clouston said. "They have had a bit of a tough go of it lately and that kind of creeps in the back of your mind but they are a very good team and they came at us hard and capitalized on their opportunities."

Ward's first-career shorthanded tally opened the scoring 3:17 into the first period. Patrice Bergeron's head-man pass was right on the mark, and Ward blasted a slap shot past Auld from in close.

Axelsson jumped out of the penalty box 3 1/2 minutes later and finished off a 3-on-1 break to give Boston a 2-0 edge. Kobasew's power-play goal off a nice feed from Michael Ryder at 10:24 gave the home team a three-goal cushion.

"We had some tough calls go against us early in the game," Bruins head coach Claude Julien said. "We did a great job of killing them and then we got a goal and then our first power play, we got a goal and I thought that was huge for us."

Spezza's 24th of the year on a pass from Dany Heatley with 7:12 left in the first got Ottawa on the board, and the score stood through the second period.

Game Notes

Boston will host the New York Islanders on Saturday, while Ottawa visits Pittsburgh...Boston has won all four meetings with the Senators this season and has taken six straight and eight of the last nine overall.