Bruins defeat Canadiens, point streak at 16 games

MONTREAL -- The Boston Bruins extended their point streak to 16 games with a 4-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Saturday.

Tuukka Rask made 24 saves for Boston (27-10-8), which is 12-0-4 since Dec. 14.
\[WATCH: All Bruins vs. Canadiens highlights\]
"I think we're playing to our identity, in terms of we're hard to play against, we're not going to give up a lot of easy chances," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "You know, when we do break down, which every team does, our goaltending's been excellent. … I think we're getting contributions from everybody."
The point streak is tied for the sixth-longest in Bruins history; Boston went 15-0-1 from March 2-30, 2014.
The line of David Pastrnak (two goals, one assist), Brad Marchand (two assists) and Patrice Bergeron (one assist) combined for six points.
"I think at the end of the day, if I knew I would have to face them now, I probably would have kept them separate for all those years," said Canadiens coach Claude Julien, who was fired by the Bruins on Feb. 7, 2017.
Max Pacioretty scored his seventh goal in the past seven games for Montreal (19-22-6), which lost to Boston for the third time in eight days.

"We have to find a way to be able to shut down lines like that," Pacioretty said. "There aren't many in the League, but that line is feeling good about their game and they're getting a lot of opportunities to produce and they made us pay tonight."
Carey Price, who did not play in a 3-2 win against the Washington Capitals on Friday, made 27 saves.
Pacioretty shot past Rask on a pass from Paul Byron for his 15th goal to give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 11:29 of the second period.

Pastrnak scored to make it 1-1 at 14:09 when his shot along the ice from the left corner banked into the net off Price's left skate.
"I just looked back door, and as soon as I looked back, he fired it on net and I didn't get a chance to react to it," Price said.
Pastrnak said, "Sometimes you need these kind of goals to get you going. And I think since we got that goal, you know, definitely the second period we took over."
Pastrnak assisted on Krug's seventh goal at 15:56, which made it 2-1, before scoring his second at 17:03 to make it 3-1.

Riley Nash scored an empty-net goal at 19:25 to make it 4-1.

Goal of the game

Pastrnak's goal at 14:09 of the second period.

Save of the game

Rask's save on Charles Hudon at 14:28 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Pastrnak's goal at 17:03 of the third period.

They said it

"They're a team in our (Atlantic) Division, they're a rival, and we've been saying that it's a big week for both teams. For us, it's about chasing the teams that are ahead of us, and to continue to push the teams behind us farther down. And that's how you become successful, that's how things work. So we're happy to get those six points, and a five-point margin between the two teams makes a big difference." -- Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron
"They're pretty reminiscent of the team that won the (Stanley) Cup (in 2011). They have four lines that work really hard, and they seem to be working very well in their system." -- Canadiens goalie Carey Price

Need to know

Bergeron scored on the power play at 11:00 of the third period, but the goal was overturned following video review after Canadiens coach Claude Julien challenged the play for offside. … A moment of silence was observed before the game for journalist Red Fisher, who covered the Canadiens for 57 years, from 1955-2012. Fisher, who received the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award in 1985, died at the age of 91 on Friday.

What's next

Bruins: Host the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; SN, NESN, MSG, NHL.TV)
Canadiens: Host the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, ALT, NHL.TV)