Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson tests Boston goalie Tim Thomas during Thursday's game. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)

The Ottawa Senators gained a point but probably deserved a better fate on Thursday, losing a 4-3 shootout result to NHL leaders Boston.

The hometown Senators had stormed back from a two-goal deficit with three tallies and were within minutes of giving new coach Cory Clouston his first NHL win before the game turned.

The Bruins earned a four-minute power play when Antoine Vermette's stick cut Michael Ryder in the face, and Chuck Kobasew scored to tie the game with 4:02 remaining in the third.

In the shootout, Boston's P.J. Axelsson was the only one of 10 shooters to convert, deking Brian Elliott and slipping a backhand shot into the net.

"We got really unlucky on the penalty," Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson said. "I thought we controlled the game well, but the power play gave them life and a chance to come back."

Alfredsson and Nick Foligno each had a goal and assist for Ottawa (17-25-8), with Jason Spezza also scoring.

Ottawa didn't score their first goal until past 15 minutes into the second, but came back and often outplayed a defensively careless Bruins club.

Former Senator Zdeno Chara had a goal and an assist for Boston (39-8-6), which also received a goal from Blake Wheeler. The Bruins are 6-0-1 in their last seven outings.

Tim Thomas finished with 19 stops and made huge glove grabs on Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza in the shootout.

Boston scored twice on the power play in the game after going 0-for-17 in its previous four games.

The Senators were playing their second game under Clouston, hired earlier in the week to replace Craig Hartsburg. Ottawa lost at home 1-0 to Los Angeles in his debut on Tuesday.

"There were a lot of good things done tonight," Clouston said. "Obviously we're disappointed in the outcome of the game with the shootout loss, but I thought our guys showed a lot of character.

"I thought there were some strides and some improvement in our puck possession and the things we've been trying to preach to these guys."

Lack of discipline

Boston opened the scoring midway through the first after Jarkko Ruutu took yet another undisciplined penalty for the Senators, setting up rookie Wheeler's 15th of the season. After moving the puck around the perimeter expertly, Andrew Ference blasted a shot that Wheeler tipped past Elliott.

An Alfredsson shot troubled Thomas early, and on a separate play the Bruins netminder came way out of his crease to dive and knock a loose puck out of harm's way.

Ryder was denied by a strong Elliott save, but he started the rush that led to Chara's slapshot goal from the point at 10:27 of the second.

Not long after, the Bruins had a huge short-handed chance but Elliott made a toe save on David Krejci. At the other end, Mike Fisher and Heatley were unsuccessful as they tried to jam a puck past Thomas.

The Senators finally scored when Foligno took a pass and split Ference and Dennis Wideman, drawing Thomas wide before putting his backhander in at the 15:54 mark.

It was Foligno's first goal in 12 games and ended a goal drought of over 104 minutes for Ottawa.

Chris Phillips made a strong defensive play to tie up Ryder's stick on a last-second Boston chance in the period and the play was key, as just 58 seconds into the third Alfredsson notched his 15th of the season.

Fisher breakaway denied

Phil Kessel then took a delay of game penalty that was costly for the Bruins midway through the period.

Foligno stickhandled past a Boston defender and fed Spezza with a cross-crease pass for a 3-2 Senators lead.

After Kobasew cashed in a rebound of Chara's shot from the point, the Senators flurried in the final seconds of the third, but Fisher levelled Boston's Stephane Yelle on the way to the net, drawing an interference call.

Elliott did the splits to snare a Wideman blast, but the Bruins otherwise spent too much time trying to set up the perfect opportunity instead of peppering the Ottawa net on their overtime man advantage.

Fisher made a nice backhand move on a breakaway late in the overtime in a bid for the win, but Thomas sprawled to the make the save.

Boston was playing for the second consecutive night after topping Philadelphia on Wednesday.

"In the second half we lacked some energy and didn't have the legs to play well," Julien said. "We were lucky to have some solid goaltending and got a good goal."

Elliott, who finished with 27 saves, made nice stops in the shootout on Kessel and Marc Savard, but could not deny Axelsson.

Ottawa completes a three-game homestand at Scotiabank Place on Saturday against Buffalo.

With files from the Canadian Press