It was an ugly game between two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.

And appropriately, the contest featured a bizarre ending.

David Krejci’s shot ricocheted off Shaone Morrisonn’s leg and past Jose Theodore for a power play goal at 1:55 of overtime as the Bruins finally found a way to beat the Washington Captials, 3-2, in overtime. It was their first win over Washington in three tries.

Significant, if only because both teams felt afterward they could be seeing each other again come the spring in the NHL playoffs.

The game was also symbolic to the Bruins because of the return of three key components to their early-season success.

Defenseman Andrew Ference came back after a 31-game absence due to a fractured right leg. Milan Lucic was out seven games with a bum shoulder. And Patrice Bergeron returned after missing 15 games with a concussion.

Head coach Claude Julien said it wasn’t their best performance but they’ll take the win.

Julien on the return of three of their best players.

Patrice Bergeron said it was great to be back on the ice.

Bergeron on his great pass to Savard on the game-tying goal in the second period.

Savard said the win was important because these two teams could be facing each other again.

Tim Thomas made two game-saving saves on Alex Ovechkin and Niklas Backstrom in overtime.

Thomas said the two teams realize they could see each other again down the road.

Mike Green said Tim Thomas just shut down the Capitals after their second goal.

Alex Ovechkin said they outplayed the Bruins but lost.

Just when you thought you knew these Bruins, something like Monday happens. Even teams in the middle of sensational seasons like the Bruins can cough up a lung like the Black and Gold did on Monday. And it was quite the hack.

The Bruins fought back from a 2-1 deficit with a pair of power play goals by Michael Ryder and P.J. Axelsson 19 seconds apart to take a 3-2 lead. When Zdeno Chara made it 4-2 with 3:05 left, Boston’s first home ice win over St. Louis since Jan. 30, 2001 seemed in the bag. But then that chicken bone got caught in the B’s throat.

David Perron made it 4-3 on a 6-on-4 power play and David Backes batted one out of mid-air with 0.8 seconds, a goal that was reviewed for five minutes before being allowed. Then the two team went scoreless for five minutes forcing a shootout. It was a tough day for Blake Wheeler. He missed an open net with 20 seconds to go in regulation that would have iced the game. Then he hit the right post when St. Louis goalie Chris Mason was caught out of position.

Brad Boyes scored the clinching goal as the Blues won the shootout, 2-0, and the game, 5-4.

Blake Wheeler said this one hurt.

Wheeler said he couldn’t believe he missed the open net in regulation.

Bruins head coach Claude Julien said don’t blame Wheeler.

Julien said that was a frustrating loss.

Shawn Thornton said the blame doesn’t lie on the stick of Wheeler.

B’s defenseman Mark Stuart said the Bruins got what they deserved.

Stuart hopes they learned their lesson.

Brad Boyes scored the winner in the shootout against former teammate Tim Thomas.

David Backes was nervous as his controversial game-tying goal was reviewed.

Bruins coach Claude Julien wanted to drill a real simple message into his team prior to its game with the Ottawa Senators Thursday night. Don’t let a two-game losing skid reach three.

He began preaching this on Wednesday morning at practice. He continued this through the morning skate on Thursday and preached it during the game as he watched his team lose a 3-1 lead to the lowly Ottawa Senators and head into the third period tied, 3-3.

But the switch turned on during the second intermission. The Bruins got goals from David Krejci, Marc Savard and P.J. Axelsson as they outscored the Senators, 3-1, in the final 20 minutes to skate off with a 6-4 victory.

“This was a very important game, more important than everyone thinks,” said Bruins captain Zdeno Chara. “It’s kind of a situation where you lose a couple of games, the team starts questioning the talent, the play. I think at some points it’s okay to face adversity but also we have to believe we’re a good team.”

Adversity is what the Bruins faced following a 4-2 loss to Buffalo on Saturday and a 1-0 clunker on Tuesday against Minnesota.

“It was either stop the hemorrhaging and continue the slide,” added coach Claude Julien. “You lose three in a row, your confidence takes an even bigger beating. Losing this game would have certainly hurt us a lot more than we think and winning it might hopefully be what we need to get back to our game.”

With Milan Lucic and Shane Hnidy out with injuries, Aaron Ward’s first goal of the season and Chuck Kobasew’s seventh have helped the B’s pick up the slack and take a 2-0 first-period lead. The highlight of the opening period was a knock-down, drag ‘em out bare-fisted brawl between Shawn Thornton and Ottawa’s Chris Neil.

While Julien loved the energy of Thornton, he didn’t like his team’s response.

“I thought our first six minutes was pretty good,” Julien said. “I thought that after the fight, Thorny stood in there and did a good job. We didn’t respond. They did. If you look at the second period, a lot of bad mistakes.”

Mistakes that resulted in two Ottawa goals and a 3-3 game after two. But still, the Bruins showed the kind of resiliency that teams with 30 wins halfway through an NHL season show.

“We’re at a stage right now where we’re highly critical of our team because of what we’ve accomplished so far. We’ve got some guys right now who are underperforming,” said the coach.

One of those NOT underperforming is Manny Fernandez. He has shown why the Bruins acquired him before the 2007-08 season from the Minnesota Wild. There was some discussion as to who would start the game as Fernandez had an extra-long skate in the morning but he came out and started for the Bruins.

Martins Karsums was recalled on an emergency basis for tonight’s game at TD Banknorth Garden. The move was presumably in the event Stephane Yelle couldn’t go with flu-like symptoms. The Bruins are 2-2 so far on their season-long six-game homestand, which continues on Saturday against Carolina at 1 p.m.

“To win itself, was important but the way we won it wasn’t so good,” Julien concluded. “We’ve got a lot of things right now that are challenging us. Some of our better players are struggling right now, trying to find their groove.”

That was something we haven’t seen all season from the Black and Gold. The Bruins were shut out for the first time this season on Tuesday night, on home ice no less. A big part of that was Niklas Backstrom, the Finnish goalie who teamed with Boston’s own Manny Fernandez to win the Jennings Trophy in 2007 with Minnesota. Backstrom made several spectacular saves and the Bruins took three straight penalties to start the second period and the Wild finally made them pay with a power play goal on the third try, beating the aforementioned Fernandez for the game’s only goal. How good have the Bruins been this year? They hadn’t lost consecutive games in regulation since Mar. 11 and 13 of LAST SEASON and they hadn’t been shutout. Our own Joe Haggerty says Buffalo and Minnesota may be providing a blueprint on how to beat the Bruins. But listen to coach Claude Julien and his players and they’ll tell you this is no time for panic.

Julien said the Bruins won’t change their style because of a bump in the road.

Julien said Manny Fernandez was one of the few Bruins to show up Tuesday night.

Julien said the Bruins are just going through one of those slumps that every team suffers.

Michael Ryder on the back-to-back losses.

Blake Wheeler acknowledged there was some frustration on Tuesday night.

In the words of colleague Joe Haggerty, the Thrashers felt the power of the Looch on Saturday night at TD Banknorth Garden as the Bruins erased an early 2-0 hole and beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 5-4, for their first home win of the season.

It was a night of firsts as Milan Lucic collected his first career hat trick. In fact, it was the first multiple goal game in the league.

Lucic talks about his trick.

Lucic said he is getting accustomed to wearing contacts.

Lucic said the Bruins had puck luck Saturday.

David Krejci calls them as he sees them and calls Lucic one big dude.

Andrew Ference said it was nice to give the home crowd their first win of the season.

The Bruins shot out to a two-goal lead over the Leafs Thursday night before their home crowd, but listen to Dennis Wideman, and even the leaders knew trouble was brewing. He was right. The Bruins were done scoring and, despite Patrice Bergeron’s first goal since Oct. 13, 2007 against San Jose and his first since a serious concussion, the Bruins fell, 4-2, to Toronto.

Dennis Wideman knew even with a 2-0 lead, the signs were not pointing in the right direction.

Patrice Bergeron on his first goal back.

Milan Lucic said the Bruins didn’t have killer instinct.