Canadiens 4, Bruins 1
In a game marred by a frightening head injury to Montreal forward Max Pacioretty, rookie Lars Eller scored twice for the Canadiens in a 4-1 home victory over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday
At 19:44 of the second period, Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara checked Pacioretty into a post where the glass begins at the end of Boston's bench. The 22-year-old former first-round pick fell to the ice and was motionless for several minutes before being taken off the ice on a stretcher.
Chara was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct. The teams left the ice and the final 16 seconds of the period were added to the third period.
Early reports indicated Pacioretty was conscious and moving extremities in a Montreal hospital.
The win moved Montreal (37-23-7) within three points of Boston for the lead in the Northeast Division. Boston (38-20-8) has lost consecutive games after having won seven in a row.
Eller's goals both came in the first period. Brian Gionta and James Wisniewski added power-play tallies for Montreal in the second period.
Milan Lucic scored Boston's only goal of the game at 13:21 of the third period.
Carey Price made 30 saves for Montreal, stopping a penalty shot by Brad Marchand early in the third period. Tuukka Rask stopped 22 shots for Boston.
It was the first meeting between the clubs since a brawl-filled 8-6 shootout won by Montreal on Feb. 9 that featured 182 minutes in total penalties. On Tuesday, Boston's Johnny Boychuk and Montreal's Ryan White dropped the gloves at the 3:11 mark of the first period, but it turned out to be the only fight of the game.