Bruins grab bounce-back win over Canadiens, move into 1st place in division

The Boston Bruins are in sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division.

Rebounding from a loss to the Senators, the Bruins grabbed a road win over the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre Saturday night. The teams entered the night tied with 22 points, so the victory gave Boston the outright lead in the Atlantic, although it's played two more games total than Montreal.

Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman stopped 26 of 28 shots (.929) in the win, his eighth in 12 starts so far this season. The two goals were off a shorthanded odd-man rush and an offensive zone turnover creating a breakaway. The win marked Swayman's most efficient effort since a win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Nov. 1.

The B's opened the scoring off the stick of Marat Khusnutdinov. The 23-year-old sparked the play himself, disrupting the breakout attempt in the corner and feeding the puck back to defenseman Nikita Zadorov, who then sent it down to David Pastrnak. Finishing a cross-ice feed from Pastrnak, Khusnutdinov lit the lamp for his third goal of the season, which matches his total in 18 games with the Bruins last season after coming over at the trade deadline.

Montreal grabbed the equalizer later in the first period, and in a way the Bruins would rather avoid: shorthanded. Pavel Zacha's centering pass attempt deflected right to Habs forward Jake Evans, who led a 2-on-1 the other way and fired it past Swayman to tie the game 1-1.

The Bruins scored two unanswered in the second period to get back in the lead and extend it to 3-1. Defenseman Mason Lohrei scored his second goal of the season and first since Oct. 23, with a one-timer from the point that appeared to catch Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembault off guard.

After playing most of the second period with the 2-1 advantage, the Bruins got an insurance goal in the form of a Viktor Arvidsson finish from the slot, off a nifty centering feed by Pastrnak. The goal was the 200th of Arvidsson's career and sixth of the season. Arvidsson is on pace for 25 goals in his first campaign as a Bruin, and perhaps more notably has played in every game so far.

The Habs' Cole Caufield answered Arvidsson's goal with his 13th of the season late in the second period, but the teams ended up playing a scoreless stalemate in the third.

Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy had to exit the game after taking a puck off his face during the second period. Head coach Marco Sturm told reporters after the game that McAvoy was undergoing further testing at the rink and he's "hopeful" the defenseman will travel with the team (via Fluto Shinzawa).

Up Next: The Bruins get Sunday off and will return to Boston for a Monday night matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes.