Ryan Spooner scored at 3:20 of overtime to lift the Boston Bruins to a 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night at the Bell Centre.
Tukka Rask made 29 saves for Boston, which snapped a three-game winless streak. Carey Price stopped 27 shots for the Canadiens (19-6-3).
Austin Czarnik scored in regulation for the Bruins (15-12-2) and Paul Byron replied for the Canadiens.
Both sides had their chances in the first period. Torey Krug nearly took advantage of Montreal’s inability to clear its zone early on but couldn’t connect.
Later, the Canadiens established zone time on a power play, but Tomas Plekanec’s shot went wide and Nathan Beaulieu missed a gaping open net.The rivalry, which had cooled off in recent outings, appeared to be somewhat revived later in the period as the physical play picked up. Alexei Emelin sent David Pastrnak to the ice with a thundering hit along the right boards and shortly thereafter Krug caught Andrew Shaw in the neutral zone.
Shaw went to the Canadiens’ locker room for the remainder of the first period but returned in the second period.
The chances continued in the second period. The Bruins applied pressure on a power play but couldn’t convert. After Canadiens rookie Artturi Lehkonen set Shaw up with a backhand feed from behind the net only to be denied by Rask, Pastrnak rang one off the post down at the other end.
Montreal turned around and brought the pick up the ice, where Rask pulled a double-pad stack to rob Plekanec of a goal.
Pastrnak had another good chance a few moments later as he spun around in the slot only to see the puck poked away by Jeff Petry. Then Patrice Bergeron came close to getting the Bruins on the board, but Price got the leg out to make the save.
Czarnik broke the scoreless draw with 1:05 remaining in the period. Adam McQuaid forced a turnover in the Bruins’ end and got it over to Czarnik, who drove up the left side and fired from the circle to put Boston ahead 1-0.
Byron tied the score at 16:48 in the third period when he picked up a loose puck in a scramble in the slot and fired a backhander past Rask.
