CHICAGO (AP) – P.J. Axelsson scored in the third round of a shootout to give the Boston Bruins a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night.

Blake Wheeler also scored in the shootout to help Boston run its winning streak to four games and spoil a big night for Chicago that began with the retirement of No. 3 in honor of Pierre Pilote and the late Keith Magnuson.

Patrick Kane had the lone shootout goal for Chicago. The Blackhawks’ winning streak was snapped at four, but they remained unbeaten in regulation at home (6-0-3).

Boston’s Marco Sturm and Chicago’s Jonathan Toews scored power-play goals in regulation. Sturm connected in the final minute of the second period, and Toews scored midway through the third.

Boston goalie Tim Thomas made 32 saves, including an easy pad stop on Patrick Sharp’s penalty shot in overtime.

Chicago goalie Nikolai Khabibulin made 38 saves and faced more tough chances than Thomas, especially in the second and third periods and through overtime.

Boston improved to 7-1-0 in its last eight.

Thomas entered the game with an NHL-best 1.85 goals-against average.

The Blackhawks had scored 21 goals in their previous four contests.

Chicago outshot Boston 18-6 in the scoreless first and forced Thomas to make several close-in saves.

Khabibulin stopped Boston’s Chuck Kobasew on a short-handed breakaway midway through the period.

Khabibulin blocked Michael Ryder’s one-time shot from the slot with a quick pad save during a Bruins’ power play nine minutes into the second.

During another Bruins’ advantage, Khabibulin stopped Phil Kessel’s rebound attempt with seven minutes left in the second. About 30 seconds later, Ryder fired a shot from the slot off the post.

Sturm finally opened the scoring on the Bruins’ 20th shot, deflecting in a power-play goal with 54 seconds left in the second.

Standing just to the right of the crease, Sturm redirected Zdeno Chara’s feed from the right wing boards.

Toews tied it at 1 with a power-play goal at 9:10 of the third on Chicago’s 30th shot. From the edge of the crease, he deflected in Patrick Kane’s shot.

An apparent Boston goal with 9:12 left in the third was disallowed when the Bruins’ Blake Wheeler interfered with Khabibulin in the crease.

Khabibulin made several spectacular saves in overtime, including stops on Marc Savard and David Krejci.

Thomas stopped Sharp’s penalty shot at 2:44 of overtime. Sharp was awarded the attempt after he was pulled down by Aaron Ward on a breakaway.

Notes: The No. 3 was the sixth retired by the Blackhawks. Among other numbers retired by Chicago is 18, worn by Denis Savard. Savard, who was fired as the Blackhawks’ coach on Oct. 16, was on the ice as part of the ceremony and received a thunderous ovation from the sellout crowd of 22,092. … Chicago D Brent Sopel sat out his second game because of an undisclosed injury. … Bruins D Shane Hnidy missed his third game because of a lower-body injury.

AP-ES-11-12-08 2358EST