BOSTON
Carey Price stopped 33 shots for his second shutout of the season and Tomas Plekanec scored a goal and added an assist as the Canadiens spoiled Boston coach Claude Julien’s 800th game behind the bench with a 2-0 victory over the Bruins on Saturday night at TD Garden.
The win gave the Canadiens a 3-0 record against the Bruins this season and kept the Canadiens three points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the battle for first place in the Eastern Conference.
Jumping ahead: The Canadiens bucked two trends when Andrei Markov opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 11:37 of the first period. It was only the eighth time in 22 games the Canadiens have scored the first goal. It was the Canadiens’ eighth power-play goal, but it was the first one on the road after failing to convert on 29 opportunities. Plekanec put the play in motion when he won the faceoff against Patrice Bergeron and Brendan Gallagher passed the puck to Markov at the point. The Canadiens went 1-for-3 on the power play while the Bruins were 0-for-2.
Pleky delivers: Plekanec made it 2-0 when he scored at 8:59 of the second period. Gallagher tried to feather a pass to Alex Galchenyuk, who was driving to the net. Tuukka Rask broke up the play, but he poked the puck to Plekanec, who buried it for his eighth goal of the season.
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![Boston Bruins' Daniel Paille, left, checks Montreal Canadiens' Alexei Emelin over the boards during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Boston, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014.]()
Boston Bruins' Daniel Paille, left, checks Montreal Canadiens' Alexei Emelin over the boards during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Boston, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014.
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![Montreal Canadiens' P.A. Parenteau, left, is checked by Boston Bruins' Patrice Bergeron during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Boston, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014.]()
Montreal Canadiens' P.A. Parenteau, left, is checked by Boston Bruins' Patrice Bergeron during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Boston, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014.
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![Boston Bruins' Joe Morrow (45) and Montreal Canadiens' Jiri Sekac battle for the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Boston, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014.]()
Boston Bruins' Joe Morrow (45) and Montreal Canadiens' Jiri Sekac battle for the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Boston, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014.
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![Boston Bruins' Loui Eriksson, front right, checks Montreal Canadiens' Max Pacioretty during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Boston, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014.]()
Boston Bruins' Loui Eriksson, front right, checks Montreal Canadiens' Max Pacioretty during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Boston, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014.
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![Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price, left, makes a save as Boston Bruins' Carl Soderberg (34) and Patrice Bergeron look for the rebound during the third period of Montreal's 2-0 win in an NHL hockey game in Boston Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014.]()
Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price, left, makes a save as Boston Bruins' Carl Soderberg (34) and Patrice Bergeron look for the rebound during the third period of Montreal's 2-0 win in an NHL hockey game in Boston Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014.
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![Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price makes a save against the Boston Bruins during the first period of a 2-0 win in an NHL hockey game in Boston, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014.]()
Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price makes a save against the Boston Bruins during the first period of a 2-0 win in an NHL hockey game in Boston, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014.
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![Boston Bruins' Carl Soderberg (34) tries to check Montreal Canadiens' David Desharnais (51) during the third period of Montreal's 2-0 win in an NHL hockey game in Boston, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014.]()
Boston Bruins' Carl Soderberg (34) tries to check Montreal Canadiens' David Desharnais (51) during the third period of Montreal's 2-0 win in an NHL hockey game in Boston, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014.
Gallery: Canadiens vs. Bruins
The Montreal Canadiens were in Boston on Saturday night, November 22, 2014, to take on the Bruins.
Rask comes up short — again: While Price was making life miserable for the Bruins, Rask continued to have problems against Montreal. His career record against the Canadiens fell to 3-12-3.
Allen gets involved: It didn’t take long for Bryan Allen to get into the spirit of the Boston-Montreal rivalry. The defenceman, who was acquired from Anaheim on Thursday, got in Milan Lucic’s grill after Lucic cross-checked Mike Weaver from behind late in the first period. Coach Michel Therrien elected to dress seven defencemen with Allen, Weaver and Tom Gilbert moving in and on the third pairing. Nathan Beaulieu and Drayson Bowman were the healthy scratches. The Bruins were playing without forwards David Krejci and Brad Marchand.
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What’s next: The Canadiens move on to New York, where they will face the Rangers on Sunday night (7 p.m., CITY-TV, RDS, TSN 690-Radio). Dustin Tokarski, who was impressive against the Rangers in the playoffs last season, is expected to start in goal. After this trip, the Canadiens are off until Friday, when they play the first game in a back-to-back set against the Sabres in Buffalo. The rematch is Saturday at the Bell Centre.
