Canadiens 2, Bruins 0
Carey Price turned aside all 31 shots he faced and captain Brian Gionta tallied twice as the Montreal Canadiens skated to a 2-0 road triumph over the Boston Bruins on Thursday in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.
Scott Gomez was credited with a pair of assists for sixth-seeded Montreal, which defeated its Original Six rival in four of the six regular-season meetings.
By keeping Boston off the scoreboard, Price became the first Montreal goaltender to record a Game 1 shutout since Hall of Famer Patrick Roy accomplished the feat in 1992.
With his first win in his last nine postseason starts, Price stopped eight shots in the first period, 18 in the second and five in the third to preserve his third career playoff shutout. The 23-year-old British Columbia native collected eight blankings in the regular season and has 13 for his career.
Gionta opened the scoring 2:45 into the first period after collecting a cross-ice feed from Gomez on the doorstep. The captain lifted the puck just under the crossbar to help Montreal quiet the raucous crowd at TD Garden.
Gionta doubled the advantage with 3:18 remaining in the session by wiring a sharp-angle shot past Tim Thomas for his 30th career postseason goal and fifth in his last three games.
Thomas finished with 18 saves for Northeast Division champion Boston, which will look to rebound when it hosts Game 2 of the series on Saturday night.