Frederic Scores Twice in Bruins' Win Over Canadiens

BOSTON -- Trent Frederic scored twice for the Boston Bruins in a 5-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens at TD Garden on Saturday.

David Pastrnak had three assists, and Jeremy Swayman made 20 saves for Boston (13-1-2), which has won four of its past five and extended its point streak against Montreal to 12 games. Charlie Coyle and Brad Marchand each had two assists.

Charlie McAvoy gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 7:11 of the first period, scoring on a one-timer during a 5-on-3 power play.

Frederic made it 2-0 with 40 seconds left in the first, redirecting Brandon Carlo’s point shot out of the air and past Allen.

Pavel Zacha pushed it to 3-0 at 5:18 of the second period when his shot deflected off Canadiens defenseman Jordan Harris’ stick and into the net.

“I don’t think we ever let up the gas there,” Zacha said. “I think we just didn’t really give them much.”

Frederic extended the lead again on a breakaway to make it 4-1 at 15:30.

“They just scored, so it was kind of not great timing on the penalty,” Frederic said. “Penalty is what it is, and you’re kind of sitting there, frustrated, and every time you’re in the box, you’re thinking you might get a breakaway. It’s never really happened, but you’re thinking what you’re going to do, and that’s kind of what I was thinking about.”

James van Riemsdyk made it 5-1 with a backhand power-play goal at 5:39 of the third period, and Montreal defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic followed up his own chance that snuck through Swayman at 15:29 for the 5-2 final.

“I just think early in the game, we made too many mistakes,” Kovacevic said. “Took too many penalties, myself included, and we weren’t able to get the penalty kill, so yeah, it was a tough one, I’d say. Probably more self-inflicted.”

NOTES: The Bruins have recorded 50-plus wins in a calendar year for the 13th time in franchise history -- the most among all teams and five more than the next closest (Washington). … Pastrnak assisted on the game-opening goal to improve his career total against Montreal to 33 points in 27 games. His 1.22 points-per-game against the Canadiens is the highest among all Bruins players in franchise history (min. 20 games played). The next closest is Adam Oates (1.19). Pastrnak also tied Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes for most three-point games this season (five). … Marchand became the eighth player in franchise history to reach 500 assists. … Boston held a pregame ceremony honoring the ‘Big Bad Bruins’ era of the 1970s as part of their season-long centennial celebration. Members of the 1970 and 1972 Stanley Cup-winning teams raised their championship banners into the TD Garden rafters.