OTTAWA, Ontario — Mark Stone couldn’t have picked a better time to snap a scoring drought.

Stone scored 4:22 into overtime to lift the Ottawa Senators to a 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Saturday night.

Stone was able to put in his own rebound over a sprawling Tuukka Rask after being stopped the first time on a wraparound attempt. It was his first goal in nine games.

“As a line with Bobby (Ryan) and (Kyle) Turris we’ve been playing some pretty good hockey, but just not getting the results we’ve wanted,” Stone said. “Finally at the end we were able to capitalize.

“It was a big goal for us, we need those points.”

Mika Zibanejad also scored for the Senators and Craig Anderson finished with 33 saves.

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David Pastrnak got his third goal of the season and Rask stopped 38 shots for the Bruins.

“We came out and competed hard so again not unhappy with our effort,” said Boston Coach Claude Julien. “We had a chance to win this game. It could have easily gone the other way, so we’ll take the point and move on here.”

Much was expected from this game as it marked the return of Brad Marchand to the Bruins’ lineup after serving a three-game suspension for a hit on Ottawa’s Mark Borowiecki on Dec. 29.

Prior to the game the Senators said their focus was on the game and not retaliation and they stayed true to their word as they played a hard, but smart game in front of 19,125 at Canadian Tire Centre.

Following the game Marchand said he wasn’t surprised the Senators didn’t look for payback.

“Hockey’s not really like that anymore. There’s no line brawls or guys taking liberties and what not. It’s just hockey,” he said.

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With the game tied 1-1, Anderson and Rask were at their best in the third, forcing this one to overtime where both teams had a couple of great chances before Stone scored the winner.

With time winding down in the third, the Senators lost Ryan briefly after he fell awkwardly into the boards after being twisted by Torey Krug. He was able to return for overtime.

Trailing 1-0 the Bruins didn’t take long to tie the game as Pastrnak tipped Zdeno Chara’s shot past Anderson in the opening minute of the second period.

A solid first period saw the two teams exchange a number of scoring chances, but it was the Senators who were able to strike first.

Milan Michalek made a great pass to Erik Karlsson and he fed Zibanejad, who beat Rask with a great backhand shot to take a 1-0 lead at the 13-minute mark.


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