Bruins 4, Senators 0

+ Click for larger photo

Photo Gallery   Game Highlights

Post-game audio:
Bryan Murray - file 1, file 2, file 3, file 4, file 5, file 6.
Daniel Alfredsson - file 1, file 2, file 3, file 4.
Chris Phillips- file 1, file 2, file 3, file 4

BOSTON — Tim Thomas stopped 34 shots for his third shutout of the season, and David Krejci had a goal and two assists Saturday to help the Boston Bruins beat the Ottawa Senators 4-0 and move into seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

The Bruins have 90 points — two behind the Senators, one behind the sixth-place New York Rangers and one point more than eighth-place Philadelphia. The Washington Capitals were in ninth, three points behind the Flyers, heading into play Saturday night.

Martin Gerber stopped 27 shots for the Senators, who have won once in their last five games.

Krejci assisted on the Bruins' second and third goals, then added one of his own with 55 seconds left in the game when he got the puck in front of the net and put it past Gerber. Krejci has two goals and five assists in his last three games.

P.J. Axelsson and Marco Sturm scored 3 1/2 minutes apart in the second period, and Shane Hnidy made it 3-0 on a short-handed slap shot 73 seconds into the third.

The goals were celebrated on the video screen by about a half-dozen U.S. Marines at Camp Taqaddum in Iraq, watching from just west of Fallujah thanks to a video conference set up by the Freedom Calls Foundation.

The Bruins took the lead with 4:24 gone in the second when Glen Metropolit dug the puck out of the corner and fed it to Axelsson, who one-timed it over Gerber's glove. Sturm made it 2-0 after Krejci swiped at a rebound and the puck squirted across the crease. Sturm backhanded it into the empty net even as defenseman Anton Volchenkov dove head-first into the net to try to stop it.

Notes: The game was delayed for a few minutes in the first period to replace one of the plexiglass boards behind the Senators' goal ... Bruins forward Jeremy Reich left the game with a head injury and did not return after taking a shoulder check from Chris Neil in the first period ... The Senators return home to face the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night at Scotiabank Place (7:30 p.m., Rogers Sportsnet, Team 1200). Fewer than 50 tickets remain for the game.