Canadiens 4, Bruins 2
BOSTON -- The Montreal Canadiens continued their dominance of the rival Boston Bruins on Saturday night.
Alex Galchenyuk, the 21-year-old super talent moved from the wing to center to start the season, set up three goals, two of them by left winger Lars Eller, to power the Canadiens to a 4-2 victory over the Bruins.
The win was the seventh straight in the regular season for Montreal at TD Garden and the sixth in a row overall in the regular season for the Canadiens over their rivals.
Galchenyuk scored the winner in the opener at Toronto as the Canadiens have won the first two games of a four-game, season-opening road trip.
Alexander Semin, the right winger on the line, assisted on both Eller goals and center Tomas Plekanec scored an empty-net goal to make it 4-1.
Goaltender Carey Price made just 19 saves to improve to 2-0 this season and 22-8-3 lifetime in the regular season against Boston.
Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask made 34 saves in his second straight loss (eight goals against). He is just 3-14-3 lifetime in the regular season against Montreal.
Left winger Matt Beleskey scored the Bruins' first goal as Boston fell to 0-2 for the first time since 2005-06. Center Patrice Bergeron added his first of the season in the game's final minute.
Beleskey, who signed as a free agent during the offseason, has two points so far this year.
Bruins left winger Brad Marchand was knocked down and almost out on a hit by right winger Dale Weise late in the game. Marchand headed in the direction of the bench but was clearly dazed and was then helped down the runway to the dressing room.
Bruins coach Claude Julien challenged a waved-off second-period goal. The call was made against Bergeron -- Julien's first challenge under the new system. The Bruins lost the challenge and thus forfeited their timeout.
Boston center Ryan Spooner was tossed from the game for a third-period boarding penalty. The Bruins killed 3:55 of the major when Marchand took a slashing penalty. The Canadiens did nothing with the 65-second two-man advantage and the Bruins then killed the rest of Marchand's penalty.
Montreal center Torey Mitchell received a match penalty for a hit on left winger Zac Rinaldo with 37.4 seconds left, leading to the Bergeron goal seven seconds later.
It took the Canadiens 11 seconds on an early power play to take a 1-0 lead.
Beleskey went off at 1:14 and Desharnais took a pass from defenseman Andrei Markov and scored off a scramble, with Galchenyuk notching the second assist.
The Bruins had a couple of chances before the end of the first period, but Price robbed right winger David Pastrnak in close and Marchand stealing the puck from Galchenyuk and hitting the crossbar behind Price.
It took the Canadiens 7:47 to score twice, with Eller converting two passes from Galchenyuk passes into goals, as Semin also assisted on both.
The Bruins thought they had gotten a goal from right winger Loui Erickson 6:30 into the period, but referee Mark Lemelin waved it off, saying Bergeron kept Price from playing the puck with "incidental contact."
The challenge by Julien didn't get the call overturned and the coach clearly wasn't happy.
But the Bruins did get on the board with 5:34 left in the second period when diving defenseman Dan Petry deflected the puck in front of Price and Beleskey scored.
NOTES: D Zdeno Chara again was out of the Bruins lineup because of an upper body injury, coach Claude Julien calling his captain "doubtful" at the morning skate. ... The teams will play in the Jan. 1 Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium and wore "Classic" stocking caps in the pre-game skate. ... This was the 730th all-time game between the rivals, moving them past the 729 played by the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings. ... The Canadiens continue their opening four-game trip at Ottawa on Sunday before moving on to Pittsburgh on Tuesday, with rookie G Mike Condon set to make his NHL debut at Ottawa. ... The Bruins host the Tampa Bay Lightning in a Monday matinee and then hit the road for games at Colorado and Arizona. ... Bruins D Colin Miller made his NHL debut.