Bruins stay alive in Atlantic race, defeat Senators

BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins can win the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference after a 5-2 win against the Ottawa Senators at TD Garden on Saturday.

The Bruins (50-19-12) are one point behind the first-place Tampa Bay Lightning in the division and conference with one game remaining Sunday against the Florida Panthers. The Lightning ended their regular season with a 3-2 overtime loss at the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.
The Bruins must win to pass the Lightning because Tampa Bay holds the tiebreaker with 48 regulation/overtime wins to Boston's 47.
WATCH: [All Senators vs. Bruins highlights]
"I would not have thought that," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said about believing Boston could challenge for the top spot in the conference when the season started. "I mean let's face it, we were trying to find our own game and get to where we thought we were at the start of the year, which was definitely a playoff team. We just didn't know where we'd fit, and the way Tampa got out of the gate, and [the] Toronto [Maple Leafs] too, so that mattered, it was going to be an uphill battle.
"And here we are. We're in a position to take it. And that's a credit to the guys. We've worked hard to get here. This wasn't by accident. We didn't back in."

Anton Khudobin made 26 saves for Boston, which had lost three straight games (0-2-1) but is 13-4-4 in its past 21.
Daniel Taylor, making his third NHL start and first since March 3, 2013 (a 4-2 win for the Calgary Flames against the Vancouver Canucks), made 30 saves for Ottawa (28-43-11), which went 2-10-0 to end its season after reaching the Eastern Conference Final last season.
"This is as tough as it gets to finish a year," Senators coach Guy Boucher said. "[Friday] we got Pittsburgh [on the road] and the game (a 4-0 loss) means everything. And as you know, we got a lot of young guys and some big names missing, and it could have been easy [Friday] or today to come up with a poor effort or a lack of commitment, but it was the opposite. Today we fought hard."
Ryan Dzingel gave the Senators a 1-0 lead at 12:31 of the first period with a wrist shot from the high slot.

The Bruins tied it 1-1 on a power-play goal by David Pastrnak at 8:08. Patrice Bergeron passed across the ice from the right face-off dot, and Pastrnak beat Taylor with a one-timer from the left circle.
Boston took a 2-1 lead 51 seconds later on an unassisted goal by Tommy Wingels at 8:59. He stole the puck near the left-wing boards and put a wrist shot off the post, but Taylor knocked it into the net with his glove.
Danton Heinen kept the puck on a 2-on-1 and beat Taylor high to the stick side at 17:01 for a 3-1 lead.
Dzingel's second goal cut it to 3-2 at 7:07 of the third period.
Noel Acciari scored on a breakaway at 18:09 to make it 4-2, and David Backes scored into an empty net with 43 seconds remaining for the 5-2 final.
"That's why you play the game, you want to play to win and to be at your best," Bergeron said. "We're in a position where we can win the conference and it's a big feat, and obviously home ice, we always talk about how big it is. And why not? We're right there and we'll see."

Goal of the game

Heinen's goal at 17:01 of the second period.

Save of the game

Khudobin's save on Dzingel at 13:42 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Acciari's goal at 18:09 of the third period.

They said it

"Yeah it was a tough year, individually as players, as a team and as an organization. Obviously we had high expectations given our performance last year, and we fell short, way short. I think it's an opportunity for us to learn from some of this -- the struggles, these down times, and come out a little bit stronger on the back side hopefully." -- Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki
"No matter how it turns out [Sunday], there's no easy team in the NHL playoffs, I don't believe that. [The] Nashville [Predators] proved that last year, Ottawa proved that. Everybody that gets in is a good hockey club, so it's not about who you play, it's about the honor of being Eastern Conference champions and Atlantic Division champions and having that No. 1 seed. I think it gives us some confidence." -- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy

Need to know

The Bruins swept the four-game season series against the Senators. Ottawa had won the previous six regular-season games against Boston. ... Pastrnak's 34th goal matched his NHL career high, set last season. ... Boston is the first NHL franchise to have 10 50-win seasons, three more than the Montreal Canadiens.

What's next

Senators:Season over
Bruins: Host the Florida Panthers on Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN, SN360, NESN, FS-F, NHL.TV)