OTTAWA — Jake DeBrusk wasn't even trying to score and ended up with the game winner.
DeBrusk beat Mike Condon from a bad angle at 8:41 of the third period as the Boston Bruins downed the Ottawa Senators 3-2 on Thursday for their fifth win in a row.
"I was aiming for a rebound and got some puck luck there," said DeBrusk, who scored his 11th of the season. "I think (Condon would) like to have that one back."
The Bruins now have points in 18 straight games (14-0-4), tying their second longest point streak in franchise history.
Condon, who made 41 saves, had been having an excellent night, but DeBrusk's shot deflected off his stick and behind him.
The Senators backup can't seem to catch a break this season, allowing a bad goal against nearly every home game he's played in. The Senators (15-23-9) are on a five-game losing streak.
"You let in a bad goal when you're playing bad, you're still going to think it's a bad goal, so if you're playing well and you let in a bad goal, it doesn't really matter," said Condon. "A bad goal is a bad goal. They don't feel very good. I don't know what else to say about that."
Condon was the only reason the Senators were even in it as the Bruins outshot the Ottawa 20-7 in the first period.
"He was standing on his head," said Ryan Dzingel. "I think they had 21 shots in the first period and we wanted to hold them to 25 for the whole game so when a guy like that's playing for you, you want to do anything you can for him."
Danton Heinen and Tim Schaller also scored for the Bruins (29-10-8) as Tuukka Rask stopped 21 shots.
Thomas Chabot and Dzingel scored for the Senators.
Boston was without leading scorer Brad Marchand, who began serving his five-game suspension for an elbow against New Jersey Devils forward Marcus Johansson on Tuesday.
Tied 1-1 to start the third, the Bruins took the lead on a short-handed goal as Patrice Bergeron won a race to the puck and fed Schaller for a breakaway goal. The lead was short lived as the Senators replied 20 seconds later when Dzingel and Matt Duchene played a little give-and-go.
The Bruins regained the lead on DeBrusk's goal at the eight-minute mark.
"When he let that one in you could feel everyone on the bench wanted to get it back for him," said Senators coach Guy Boucher. "You could really feel the players sticking together."
Despite their best efforts the Senators were unable to tie the game and were once again left pondering what might have been.
With the Bruins on the power play midway through the second Zack Smith had the opportunity to clear the puck, but instead had his shot intercepted by Bergeron who then found David Pastrnak. Pastrnak had a fluttering shot go up in the air and Heinen, with his first in nine games, was able to get a piece of it and beat Condon through the legs to tie the game 1-1.
Despite being outshot 20-7 the Senators managed to get out of the first period with a 1-0 lead as Chabot, with his fourth of the season, fired a shot that hit Adam McQuaid's skate blade and past Rask.
Notes: The Senators recognized Chris Neil, who retired last month, for his contributions to the organization during the first intermission. Mark Stone missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury, as did D Johnny Oduya (undisclosed). Boston C Noel Acciari missed the game due to a lower-body injury.
Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press