Bruins 3, Canadiens 2
Tim Thomas turned aside 33 shots and the Boston Bruins extended their winning streak to five games with a 3-2 victory over the visiting Montreal Canadiens on Monday night.
Benoit Pouliot, David Krejci and Brad Marchand scored goals for Boston, which improved to 10-1-1 in its last 12 home games and 19-2-1 since dropping back-to-back games to the Canadiens at the end of October.
Thomas withstood a third-period onslaught by Montreal, making 17 saves to send the Canadiens to their third straight loss and drop them to 0-2-0 under interim coach Randy Cunneyworth.
Marchand's goal, with 5:45 left to play, made it 3-1 and served as the game-winner. He deked Montreal netminder Carey Price and slipped a backhander into an open net.
Erik Cole pulled the Canadiens within a goal with 1:14 to play, deflecting a shot past Thomas, but they were unable to get the equalizer. Tomas Plekanec also scored for Montreal.
Boston went ahead to stay on a disputed tally at 2:42 of the second period when defenseman Andrew Ference's pass from behind the goal line deflected off Krejci's skate and past Price. The goal was upheld upon video review.
Bruins forward Milan Lucic sat out with a one-game suspension for a hit on Philadelphia's Zac Rinaldo on Saturday.