Despite Quick Start, Bruins Fall to Montreal in Overtime 

MONTREAL -- Kaiden Guhle scored at 2:13 of overtime to give the Montreal Canadiens a 3-2 win against the Boston Bruins at Bell Centre on Saturday.

Guhle scored on a rebound from the slot to give Montreal its first win against Boston in 11 games dating to Nov. 5, 2019.

“We did so many good things tonight,” said Guhle, who also had an assist. “Special teams were good, had a power-play goal. I don’t know how many penalty kills they had, they had the one goal there but it went just off a skate, kind of a lucky one. I think everyone was going tonight, everyone was doing their job and taking care of the team. It feels good to come out with a win.”

Sam Montembeault made 26 saves, and Nick Suzuki and Brendan Gallagher scored 27 seconds apart in the third period for the Canadiens (7-5-2), who have won consecutive games following a four-game losing streak.

“I thought we played a great 60 minutes,” Suzuki said. “We couldn’t score in the first two periods but we just kept fighting and finding a way, and a lot of big goals and nice to win in overtime.”

Pavel Zacha had a goal and an assist, and Swayman made 24 saves for the Bruins (11-1-2).

“I think we’re a team that needs to get two points most every night, so a lot of learning tonight,” Swayman said. “Going into the third with a lead, you want to close that out, so I want to have a couple more saves there, and it’s just not good enough.”

Zacha scored 36 seconds into the first period to put Boston up 1-0, deflecting Charlie McAvoy’s point shot past Montembeault from the slot.

Suzuki tied it 1-1 on a power play 24 seconds into the third, scoring on a wrist shot from the top of the right face-off circle to extend his goal streak to four games.

Gallagher scored 27 seconds later to put Montreal up 2-1. He knocked down Guhle’s shot from the left point and lunged to his right to swipe the puck around Swayman.

“I think the first minute of the third was a microcosm of the first two periods,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “We were lucky to be in the position we were in up 1-0. I think that’s Swayman that gets us the point.”

The Bruins had a goal by Oskar Steen disallowed at 2:05 after Montreal successfully challenged that the Boston forward had interfered with Montembeault on the play.

“I think they played hard, you’ve got to tip your cap to them,” Swayman said. “They came out in the third knowing that they needed a lead and they played a great third period. So, I’m really happy with our response. It’s a team effort, we couldn’t have got to overtime without the boys in front of me, so I’m happy with that, but we want to execute all the way through and finish games out.”

Brad Marchand tied it 2-2 with a power-play goal at 12:58, redirecting Zacha’s pass off his skate and into the open net from the right post.

“These games are fun, but you really want to get results,” Gallagher said. “It’s really important for us to feel this, understand the work that went into it. They’re a good hockey team and they played a good game, and I thought we went toe-to-toe with them and that both teams executed the game plan well.

“But we understand that when we stick to our brand of hockey, we’re that hard to play against, we can play with anyone in this league and I think it’s a big step for our group.”

NOTES: McAvoy led the Bruins in ice time with 26:44 in his return after serving a four-game suspension for an illegal check to the head by Florida Panthers defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson on Oct. 30. … Boston forward Jakub Lauko played 8:20 after missing the previous seven games. … Marchand tied Bobby Orr for ninth-most power-play goals (74) in Bruins history. … The two goals in the first 51 seconds of the third tied for the seventh-fastest pair of goals scored by Montreal from the start of any period. … Montreal was 0-9-1 in its past 10 games against Boston. … Guhle (21 years, 297 days) is the second-youngest Canadiens defenseman to score an overtime goal. (P.K. Subban).