The Bruins were ready for this one.

Responding to some sharp criticism from their coach and the loss of one of their top players, the Bruins unleashed an energetic first-period attack to take a 4-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Place Tuesday.  

Blake Wheeler scored twice in the opening period, David Krejci and Mark Recchi also added early goals as Boston built a four-goal advantage in the opening 14 minutes of the contest.

One night earlier, the Bruins had sleep-skated through the opening two periods in a 3-2 loss to the Rangers in New York. The uninspired effort led coach Claude Julien to publically question the leadership and character of the B’s in his post-game comments. The lackluster loss also came with the additional setback of losing top forward Patrice Bergeron with a thumb injury that will sideline him for at least two weeks.

Facing both the self-inflicted motivational adversity and the loss of Bergeron, the Bruins quickly went to the net with more resolve against the Senators and were rewarded for their efforts.

The B’s chased Ottawa starting goalie Brian Elliott from the game after he gave up four goals on just 16 shots, and Boston’s long dormant road power play suddenly netted two goals in one period after failing to score at all in 10 prior road games.

“We came out hard, we came out obviously very ready to play,” said Bruins captain Zdeno Chara. “The most important thing is we scored goals. Obviously, when you capitalize on those chances, it’s a big advantage and creating a lot of momentum, so that’s a pretty big first.”

The quick four-goal lead was more than enough for Tim Thomas, who made 27 saves to secure his 11th consecutive win over Ottawa.

Julien was much happier with the Bruins overall performance.

“That’s probably more of what we’ve been looking for from our team,” Julien said. “I thought we had good battle tonight and that’s something we’ve been looking for from our team there for a while, so hopefully we can build on that and not go back to our old ways next game.”

The contest was not a completely positive one for Boston, as defenseman Andrew Ference left the game after getting hit in the first period and did not return. A potential injury to Ference may be the latest bit of adversity for the Bruins to wrestle with. But for now, here are three positive developments from Tuesday’s win.

BERGERON COULD BE BACK IN TWO WEEKS

The night started off on a relatively good night for the Bruins before they had even taken the ice for the warm-up skate. After being examined by doctors on Tuesday afternoon, Bergeron learned he had broken thumb, but that he could be back to game action in just two weeks.

"The thumb will be mobilized for two weeks, it’s not displaced so there will be no surgery,” Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli told reporters in Ottawa prior to the game. “There’s a chance he could play after two weeks.”
 
While having the team’s leading scorer, out of the lineup is never a good thing, there were concerns Bergeron could have been out for a longer period after being hit in the thumb by a Dennis Wideman shot in the second period of Monday’s game.

The current timetable for recovery should also not create any problems with Bergeron’s ability to play for the Canadian Olympic team. He could actually begin practicing later this week.

“He’ll be splinted, he’ll be able to skate and everything,” said Chiarelli. “He could  conceivably be practicing in a day or three days, or five days, it’s as tolerated as far as the pain goes.”

SATAN STEPS IN AND THE BRUINS SCORE GOALS   

With Bergeron injured, the Bruins quickly moved Miroslav Satan into the lineup and reshuffled three of their forward lines. Satan has just signed a one-year free agent deal on Saturday. He had not played this season and the Bruins had hoped to give him a week of practice to get game ready, but that plan went out the window after losing Bergeron.

The B’s adjusted by moving Recchi onto the line centered by Marc Savard with Marco Sturm on the left wing. Satan skated the right wing on Krejci’s line with Wheeler on the left wing. Steve Begin centered a line with wingers Michael Ryder and Daniel Paille.

The energy line — with Vladimir Sobotka centering for Shawn Thornton and Bryon Bitz — remained intact.

On Satan’s first shift, Ference cut to the net and sent a backhand shot through the crease where it defected in off Wheeler’s skate giving the Bruins a 1-0 lead just 1:46 into the game.

A little over four minutes later, the Bruins ended a 0-33 power play drought on the road when Krejci lofted a rebound over Elliott.

With Satan on the ice later in the period, Wheeler went to the net and deflected in a shot by Krejci for a 3-0 advantage. Recchi then deflected in a drive by Derek Morris during a power play and it was 4-0 less than 14 minutes after the opening faceoff.

“My legs felt good and I don’t know how many minutes I played, but it felt pretty good for the first game after a long, long layoff,” said Satan, who finished the night with a plus-two rating while logging 14:06 of ice time.

“He looked good actually, for a guy that hasn’t played at all year and has only had two practices with our hockey club, “ said Julien. “He wasn’t bad at all. He made some nice plays … for a guy who’s timing isn’t probably where it should be, I thought he handled it well.”
 
WHEELER WAKING UP

The two-goal effort by Wheeler was his first of the season. He also scored in Monday’s loss in New York to end a 15-game drought.

After scoring 21 goals as a rookie last season, the Bruins have counted on Wheeler at least matching that total this year. One game over the midway point of the season he now has 10 goals and could be improving to provide the type of production the team is counting on. Wheeler also assisted on a goal Tuesday.

(Chris Yzerman contributed to this report from Ottawa)