Tim Thomas was down. Way down. But not out.

After yielding an ugly, back-breaking, game-tying goal in the final seconds of the third period, Thomas went to work in yet another overtime contest for the Bruins Saturday.

When the ice chips had settled, Thomas had rebounded to help Boston secure a 4-3 shootout victory over the Ottawa Senators. (Recap.)

It was far from an as easy blueprint for taking a division win and moving back into first place. The Bruins needed to dig themselves out from an early 2-0 deficit and Thomas needed to regain his focus after allowing a shot from near the left corner by Milan Michalek to skip under his pads and clip inside the far post for a game-tying goal with just 19.4 seconds to play.

But the Bruins managed to do that, and so they sit atop the Northeast Division. Here’s what we learned about the resiliency of the Bruins and a roller-coaster return for Thomas:

THOMAS NARROWLY AVERTED A GUT-WRENCHING OUTCOME

Thomas returned to game action for the first time since suffering a “minor injury” shortly after a miscue with defenseman Dennis Wideman led to a terrible turnover resulting in an overtime loss at Pittsburgh on Nov. 12. On Saturday, Thomas again found himself in a disastrous state of mind after giving up the game-tying goal with seconds left in regulation.

“I felt terrible. I let the team down big time,” said Thomas. “They deserved to win outright. At the time it was one of the worst feelings I’ve had here in my four years with the Bruins.”

With little time to recover from the blunder, Thomas then had to shut down four skilled Ottawa skaters in the shootout – Alex Kovalev, Jason Spezza, Daniel Alfredsson and Mike Fisher – to leave the ice a winner after Michael Ryder beat Senators goalie Brian Elliott in the fourth round.

“I was so excited. Salvage what you can out of it,” said Thomas who couldn’t even watch a replay of the game-tying goal. “I was sick to my stomach. That was a game that was in the bag. I let the team down.”

While Michalek’s shot was one that Thomas usually would have no problem stopping, he was not alone in the Bruins inability to close thing out in regulation.  Several Boston skaters also failed to hit an empty net with a multitude of shots while play settled into the Ottawa zone before the Senators moved up ice.

Nonetheless, Thomas was quick to let his teammates know he let them down and was ready.

“Well you know before the shootout he talked to us shooters, that he made a mistake (on the) last goal and he was going to make up for it and he for sure did,” said David Krejci. “So credit to him.” 

The late rally by Ottawa to secure a point may have also been a bit of hockey karma as the Bruins had taken a 4-3 victory over Ottawa in the first meeting between the teams, scoring twice in the final 1:28 of regulation to tie the game before winning it in a shootout.

But the strong play by Thomas in the shootout Saturday prevented the Senators from stealing two points in a similar manner to what the Bruins had done in Ottawa.

THE POWER WAS PRESENT

The opening 10 minutes of the Northeast Division tilt was certainly not the start Boston wanted. Thomas gave up a goal to Alfredsson on the first shot he faced and the usually adept Bruins penalty killing unit yielded a goal to Michalek just 19 seconds into Ottawa’s first power play.

The Bruins were able to get back in the game, however, with a rare weapon, as second-period success on the power play brought Boston back into the game.  Mark Recchi feathered a pass to Krejci off a rush down the left wing and Krejci cut to the net, lifting a backhand shot past Elliott to get Boston on the scoreboard 59 seconds into the second.

Near the midway point of the period, Ryder moved the puck to Zdeno Chara at the point before moving to the top of the circle, gathering a return feed from Chara and snapping the puck past Elliott to draw Boston even.

Then, in the third, Wideman blasted in a point-shot and the Bruins had a 3-2 advantage. The goal – Wideman’s first since October 3 – was a big one.

“It’s been a long, frustrating time since the last time one went in,” acknowledged Wideman. “But you know, it was something that we needed to do tonight, we needed to start shooting more on the power play so I just kind of threw that one at the net. Obviously a great screen by [Recchi] in front.”

The Bruins finished the night 3-for-5 on the power play, their best showing since a 4-8 performance against Carolina on October 3.

THE FIRST PERIOD COULD HAVE BEEN A LOT WORSE

Even with the early 2-0 deficit, there was a far bigger concern inside TD Garden.  Bruins early-season MVP Patrice Bergeron hobbled off the ice after blocking a shot during the Senators’ successful man-advantage seven minutes into the first.

Skating at the top of the penalty killing box, Bergeron first hit a rut in the ice, which moved him off balance. Then, laying on the ice, he caught a point shot in the leg.

“He slipped to start with and he tried to get back into the play,” said Bruins coach Claude Julien. “He didn’t roll his ankle or anything. It was the result of the shot.”

After testing his leg for a half-shift, Bergeron quickly returned to the bench and moved down the tunnel to the Bruins dressing room. But he came back to the ice late in the period, helping Boston close things out after a tough opening 20 minutes of hockey.

“I just spoke to him a little while ago, he feels fine and hopefully that is the end of it,” said Julien.

Bergeron finished the night with just over 16 minutes of ice time, about 3½ minutes below his 19:28 minutes per game average.