MONTREAL – Linemates Tyler Seguin and David Krejci scored in the opening 2:05 of the third period, lifting the Boston Bruins to a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night.
The victory moved the Bruins (7-1-1) into sole possession of first place in the Northeast Division and kept Montreal (6-3) from taking over the division lead.
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P.K. Subban scored his first of the season on a second-period power play for Montreal, whose five-game home winning streak ended. Boston outshot Montreal, 23-22.
The Canadiens did not allow a shot on goal until more than 11 minutes into the game, but solid saves by Tuukka Rask kept it scoreless.
Subban broke the deadlock at 10:53 of the second with Milan Lucic serving a high-sticking penalty.
Subban took a pass from Andrei Markov and saw his point shot go off Rich Peverley’s stick and past Rask.
It was Subban’s first goal and third point in three games since he ended a holdout by signing a two-year contract.
The goal ended Boston’s string of 16 straight penalty kills on the road to start the season.
Seguin tied it 14 seconds into the third period as he lifted the puck past Carey Price from the edge of the crease after a feed from Krejci.
The Bruins then went on a rush and Lucic passed in front where the closing Krejci beat Tomas Plekanec to the puck to redirect it into the net at 2:05.
NOTES: Price left the ice in a hurry during pregame warmups after he was hit in the groin area by Lars Eller’s shot, but was OK to play. Prospect Blake Geoffrion, who fractured his skull in an AHL game at the Bell Centre during the lockout, said he feels better and will be examined by a doctor in Montreal on Thursday to see when he can resume training. Montreal scratched Tomas Kaberle, Ryan White and Yannick Weber. Boston was missing Brad Marchand, Shawn Thornton and Daniel Paille because of injuries.
DUCKS 3, AVALANCHE 0: Viktor Fasth stopped 31 shots for his first NHL shutout and Francois Beauchemin scored in his 500th career game, lifting surging Anaheim to a win at Denver.
Sheldon Souray and Saku Koivu each added a goal and an assist for the Ducks, who won their fourth straight game.
Fasth stymied the struggling Avalanche with one sprawling save after another to help Anaheim start a six-game road swing on a good note. The 30-year-old Swedish goaltender has been quite a find for the Ducks since he signed as a free agent over the offseason. He’s yet to allow more than two goals in any of his four starts.
THE MINNESOTA WILD have not been playing up to the preseason hype or their potential.
In this lockout-shortened season, the time for a turnaround is tight.
Winless in four road games this season, the Wild (4-4-1) returned home. They’ll host Vancouver on Thursday. Seven of their next nine games are against Northwest Division teams, and the 48-game season is about 20 percent gone.
So at practice on Wednesday at the St. Thomas Ice Arena, Coach Mike Yeo shuffled his forward groups again.
Dany Heatley was taken off the first line to skate with center Matt Cullen and Pierre-Marc Bouchard. Rookie Charlie Coyle replaced Heatley, joining center Mikko Koivu and star Zach Parise.
“I wouldn’t say it was unexpected,” said Heatley, who has no points in his past four games after tallying four goals and two assists in the first five games. “I’m playing with two real creative guys so hopefully we can get something going.”
Devin Setoguchi and Mikael Granlund rotated spots on the third line with center Kyle Brodziak and Cal Clutterbuck. New acquisition Mike Rupp was on the fourth line with Torrey Mitchell and Zenon Konopka.
Rupp, who came in a trade with the New York Rangers, will make his Wild debut against the Canucks.
“I’m just a complementary guy. There are a lot of good things going here,” Rupp said.
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