Ottawa Senators forward Milan Michalek scored with 19 seconds left in the third to force extra time, but Michael Ryder scored the lone goal in the shootout to give the Boston Bruins a 4-3 home victory on Saturday night.

Ryder, who scored in the second period, beat Brian Elliott over the glove in the fourth round of the shootout, the only player to score. Ottawa centre Mike Fisher, in his first game back after missing some time with an undisclosed injury, was denied by Bruins goalie Tim Thomas to seal the result.

"I feel like I think too much, maybe that was the difference," Ryder said. "I just went on instinct. I really didn't know what I was going to do going in on him."

He was just 2-for-14 in his career in the shootout and 0-for-2 this season before the winner.

"He's been working on it in practice and he's getting better," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "Maybe he didn't have too many shootout chances early in his career."

Dennis Wideman and David Krejci each had a goal and an assist for Boston (13-8-5). Thomas, in his first game since Nov. 14, finished with 19 saves.

Captain Daniel Alfredsson scored and assisted on Michalek's first goal, with Alex Picard drawing two assists.

Elliott made 30 saves in his third consecutive start.

"I thought we got off to a real good start, almost too good, too soon, then we sort of just got very lethargic in the middle frame of that game," Ottawa coach Cory Clouston said.

"I thought the last part of the second period and a good portion of the third period we were OK, but we didn't do enough good things."

Wideman, who also had an assist, sent a wristshot through a maze of bodies and past Senators goalie Elliott at the 9:19 mark of the third, and it looked like it would hold up as the winner.

But Michalek made a dash down the left side in the waning seconds and was rewarded, with his harmless-looking shot trickling between the pads of Thomas to help force overtime.

"We had to battle back and get some positives out of it," said Senators winger Nick Foligno.

Boston trailed 2-0 just over seven minutes into the game but scored three power-play goals to get back in the game. The Bruins have points in their last six games (5-0-1).

Boston applied pressure early, but it was the Senators who ended up scoring on two of their first three shots.

Mark Recchi and Blake Wheeler tested Elliott in the early going, but the Senators goaltender held firm.

The saves were key, as Alfredsson would pounce on a loose puck and fire a shot past the blocker of Thomas at the 4:52 mark, the first stoppage in play.

Boston nearly tied it in the next minute, but defenceman Derek Morris rang one off the post.

The Bruins got a double dose of bad news just over seven minutes in while killing a penalty. Patrice Bergeron took a shot off the foot and had to be helped off, but only after Michalek beat Thomas from a sharp angle.

"I messed up. I had to tell the guys on the ice that I messed up," Thomas said.

Bergeron would eventually return, and would be one of seven skaters to miss in the shootout.

Boston had the edge in possession in the first but was continually frustrated. Ryder flew down the right side but couldn't find the answer to beat Elliott, while Alfredsson made a diving defensive play to deny Recchi of an open-net chance.

The Bruins found the mark in the second, a period in which they fairly dominated the Sens over the first half.

Recchi fed Krejci with a soft pass, and the Czech Republic native skated in on Elliott and lifted the puck over the goalie just 59 seconds into the frame.

With Chris Kelly in the box for hooking, the Bruins tied when Marco Sturm screened Elliott to abet Ryder's seventh of the year.

Ottawa picked up a bit of steam later in the period, with Foligno hitting the post.

Bruins centre Marc Savard, stuck on 199 goals since returning this week from a foot injury, split through the Ottawa defence in the third but couldn't beat Elliott.

Overtime was eventful, with the Senators having a slight edge, but to no avail.

Ottawa (13-7-4) now heads west for the last four games of the road trip, beginning with a contest Tuesday in San Jose.

With files from The Associated Press