Redden lifts Senators to tie

BOSTON (AP) -- With how things started for the Boston Bruins, they were happy to skate off with a point.

Glen Murray had a goal and an assist to lead Boston to a 2-2 tie with the Ottawa Senators on Monday night.

The lone goal of the first period came when Boston goalie Andrew Raycroft's skates slipped from under him, leaving an empty net for forward Vaclav Varada to score his fifth of the season.

"It was just an unfortunate mishap," Boston coach Mike Sullivan said. "He caught a rut, but it was real encouraging the way he responded. For a young guy, he didn't get rattled and came back to make some big saves."

Murray gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead with a breakaway goal 6:45 into the second period. He stole a pass near center ice, skated in and flipped a backhander past goaltender Patrick Lalime into the far top corner of the net.

Lalime made 21 saves in his return from a bout with the flu that forced him to miss the previous four contests. Martin Prusek was scheduled to start his fifth straight game, but he injured his back in pregame warmups.

"You never know what's going to happen," Lalime said. "He helped me out last week, and I had to do the same for him."

The Senators tied it at 1 with 3:39 remaining in the second when defenseman Wade Redden put a rebound past Raycroft for his seventh goal of the season.

The Bruins are 0-2-3 in their last five home games and are winless against Ottawa in four. Boston hasn't beaten the Senators since Nov. 9, 2002 and is 0-4-8 in overtime against Ottawa.

"We need to come out harder," Boston forward Brian Rolston said. "Raycroft was awesome tonight and that was the key. We've just got to come out with a better effort."

Ottawa, which failed to beat the Bruins in its first 22 games, is 13-4-4 in 21 games against them since the start of the 1999-2000 season.

"We played fairly well," Senators defenseman Brian Pothier said. "We're just making those one or two mistakes a game that are costing us. That's been the story for us the last little stretch. We really need to buckle down, eliminate those couple mistakes, and we'll be a lot better off."

The Bruins, 1-3-3-1 in the past eight games, tied it early in the second period on Dan McGillis' shot from just inside the blue line that appeared to deflect off the stick of an Ottawa defenseman.

Raycroft stopped 28 shots and has allowed two goals or fewer in 10 of his 15 starts.

Game notes
Boston forward Michal Grosek missed his second straight game with a shoulder injury and is out indefinitely. ... Varada's goal was his first in 10 games. ... Prusek earned three wins during Lalime's absence. ... Boston forward Sandy McCarthy strained his groin and didn't return. ... The crowd of 10,662 was Boston's smallest at home this season.