BOSTON (AP) -- Maybe someone forgot to tell the Boston Bruins it was a matinee, because they waited until sunset to really start playing against the Atlanta Thrashers on Monday.

"We played 10 minutes," coach Pat Burns grumbled after his Bruins rallied from a three-goal deficit with seven minutes to play to tie the Atlanta Thrashers 3-3. "The fans pay to watch for 60 minutes, not 10."

	Boston's Ray Bourque holds a towel to his face and gets aid from the team trainer Monday.

Kyle McLaren and Joe Thornton scored 13 seconds apart near the seven-minute mark in the third period, then Dave Andreychuk scored with 30 seconds left in regulation to tie the score.

The comeback salvaged what could have been a disastrous day for the Bruins, who almost lost at home to an expansion team for the first time since 1973, and lost their captain in the process.

Ray Bourque, a five-time Norris Trophy-winner scheduled to make his 18th consecutive All-Star appearance, left with 3:26 remaining in the first period after a deflected slap shot knocked out three teeth and split his upper lip. The Bruins said Bourque is not expected to miss any games.

"You never want to see anyone get hurt," said defenseman Don Sweeney, who is the second-longest tenured Bruin after Bourque. "But, obviously, he's one in particular."

Even with the comeback, the Bruins are 1-8-5 in their last 14 games and winless (0-4-4) in their last eight home games. It's their longest home winless streak since going 0-4-4 in 1963.

Byron Dafoe made 26 saves for Boston, stopping Patrik Stefan on a breakaway with 3:50 to go in overtime to preserve the tie. Scott Fankhouser stopped 36 shots for the Thrashers.

Playing a "Kids' Day" matinee on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, the game was three hours old when McLaren slapped the puck past Fankhouser during a 5-on-3 power play with 6:57 left.

Thirteen seconds later, Thornton swept around the back of the net and, after a scramble in front, pushed a loose puck over the line to make it 3-2.

Dafoe was off for an extra skater when Andreychuk put a centering pass from Anson Carter in the center of the net to send the game into overtime.

McLaren's goal snapped Boston's 0-for-26 power play streak. The Bruins were 1-for-10 with the man advantage in the game.

"We made it real tough on ourselves in the third period," Thrashers coach Chris Fraser said. "We took some undisciplined penalties and gave them a chance to win the game."

With 3:26 left in the first period, Thrashers forward Ray Ferraro took a shot that deflected off Bourque's stick and under the half-shield that covers his eyes. Bourque fell to the ice, clutching his face in his hands.

After team doctors tended to him on the ice, he skated off with their help. He did not join his teammates on the bench at the beginning of the second period.

Bourque is the NHL's career leading scorer for defenseman with 391 goals, and he is second in assists with 1,104.

Andrew Brunette redirected Gord Murphy's shot from the right point past Dafoe to make it 1-0 at 4:17 of the second period. Atlanta made it 2-0 when Matt Johnson's shot from the left corner bounced off McLaren's skate and over Dafoe's right shoulder.

Shean Donovan, who was standing next to McLaren, was credited with the goal, though he did not appear to touch the puck.

Dafoe stopped Donovan on a breakaway with 11:36 left in the game, skating out to the faceoff circle to sprawl in front of the puck and keep the Bruins within two. But Chris Tamer scored to make it 3-0 with 8:25 left, knocking the rebound of Donovan's shot past a sprawling Dafoe.