Bruins 7, Canadiens 0
Nathan Horton and Gregory Campbell both scored twice as the Boston Bruins skated to a 7-0 home win over the Montreal Canadiens in a highly anticipated rematch of the two Original Six rivals.
Captain Zdeno Chara, David Krejci and Milan Lucic each recorded three assists in the rout for Boston (41-22-10), which expanded its Northeast Division lead to five points over Montreal (40-28-7).
Many fans were anticipating a rough match in the first meeting of the two teams since March 8, when Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty suffered a concussion and fractured vertebrae on a controversial check by Chara. The lone fight on Thursday was between Campbell and Montreal defenseman Paul Mara late in the second period.
Mara received two roughing penalties earlier in the second period after a crosscheck by Boston veteran Mark Recchi, who faced his own controversy by suggesting on a Boston radio show that the Canadiens may have “embellished” Pacioretty’s injury in an attempt to get the league to suspend Chara.
Bruins netminder Tim Thomas stopped all 24 shots he faced. It was the eighth shutout of the season for Thomas, putting him in a tie for second place with Montreal's Carey Price.
It was a tough outing for Price, who allowed five goals on 33 shots. He was pulled after Adam McQuaid’s goal at 15:31 of the third period and replaced by Alex Auld, who allowed two goals on eight shots.
Johnny Boychuk opened the scoring just 61 seconds into the game. Tomas Kaberle also scored for the Bruins, who hadn’t scored that many goals in a game since their last home contest against Montreal, an 8-6 brawl-filled win on Feb. 9.