Atlanta, GA -- (Sports Network) - Patrice Bergeron got the lone goal of the shootout, and Tuukka Rask produced a solid effort with 32 saves, as Boston got by a hot Atlanta Thrashers club, 4-3, at Philips Arena.

Michael Ryder scored twice in regulation for the Bruins, who snapped a three- game losing streak. Marco Sturm also scored, and Dennis Wideman notched two assists.

Maxim Afinogenov tied the game with 41.4 seconds left in regulation and added an assist, while Ilya Kovalchuk had a goal and two assists for Atlanta, which saw its four-game win streak broken.

Nik Antropov picked up a goal, and Tobias Enstrom had two assists in the setback. Ondrej Pavelec faced 42 shots and gave up three goals.

"Obviously it's a disappointment -- every game you lose in the shootout. It's russian roulette, its 50-50, all teams can win," said Pavelec. It's especially disappointing because we tied the game in the last minute. We were pretty good in overtime, (had) a couple of chances and we didn't score."

After Rich Peverley missed on a high shot to begin the shootout, Bergeron deked Pavelec almost out of the crease to slip in a forehand goal. Rask flashed the left pad on Slava Kozlov's backhander to set up Blake Wheeler for a chance to win it, but he lost the handle after leaving himself a wide open net with an effective deke. Kovalchuk then fired a rising shot from in close, and Rask blocked it with his left shoulder to end the game.

"That is what means the most (about the win), we lost several games in the shootout and overtime in the past weeks so we wanted to make sure that didn't happen again," said Rask.

An undisciplined Boston club took three penalties before the third period was five minutes old. The Thrashers, though, not only failed to capitalize but were unable to even register a shot on net.

Pavelec kept Atlanta in the hunt for an equalizer by stacking the pads on Ryder's breakaway bid for the hat trick with 8 1/2 minutes to play. Boston handed the hosts another chance with the man advantage seconds later, but Rask gloved down Peverley's wrister from low in the left circle.

Wideman took a hooking penalty just inside six minutes remaining, and Kovalchuk came up with a pair of good chances on the power play; however, Rask was equal to the task each time.

Atlanta then pulled the goalie for an extra skater just outside the final minute, and with the clock rolling toward 40 seconds to go, Kovalchuk shoveled the puck across the slot to Afinogenov, who rifled a low shot from the right circle past Rask's blocker to force overtime.

"Our penalty-kill came up big for us again. That goal at the end could have been a killer but our guys decided that wasn't going to beat us down and they found a way to win," B's head coach Claude Julien said. "It's in the win column and I think that's what this team needed right now."

The B's took advantage of an early turnover in the Atlanta zone, as Mark Recchi scooped up a loose puck along the right boards and angled down the wing before dishing in front to Sturm for a redirection score.

Ryder made it a 2-0 game with 1:49 to go in the period, tipping Wheeler's shot from the slot up and over Pavelec's right shoulder.

The Thrashers, though, halved their deficit nearly midway through the second. Enstrom took a pass from Kovalchuk and cranked up a slap shot from the left circle that was tipped home by Antropov, who was rolling across the crest of the crease for a screen.

Kovalchuk tied it up on the power play with 5:37 left in the second, positioning himself deep at the left point and winding up for a one-timer that screamed past Rask.

However, Boston answered on the man advantage 2:22 later, as David Krejci gathered the puck behind the net and passed out to the left of the cage for Ryder, who roofed it over Pavelec from in close.

Game Notes:

The Bruins kicked off a four-game road trip with the win and will also make stops in Buffalo, St. Louis and Minnesota during the swing...Rask received the nod in net for a second straight game with starting netminder Tim Thomas 1-0-3 in his last four starts...Thrashers defenseman Pavel Kubina and forward Bryan Little both returned to the lineup Thursday. Little missed the last two games with a strained groin, while Kubina sat out Monday's test with a lower-body issue...Atlanta will close out a five-game residency with games against Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay this weekend...Thursday marked the first of four scheduled meetings between the Bruins and Thrashers this season. Boston swept the season series in 2008-09 and has taken seven straight from Atlanta overall.