Halak makes 22 saves, Bruins shut out Canadiens

MONTREAL -- Jaroslav Halak made 22 saves for his third shutout of the season, and the Boston Bruins defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 at Bell Centre on Monday.

Colby Cave scored his first NHL goal and had an assist, and Joakim Nordstrom, David Krejci and Brad Marchand scored for Boston (18-12-4), which had lost two in a row after a three-game winning streak.
"It feels really good, especially in a winning effort," Cave said. "I thought we played an unreal game as a team tonight. You know, we rolled four lines, all three (defense) pairings were playing good, and (Halak) was a brick wall back there, so that's a recipe for success."
WATCH: [All Bruins vs. Canadiens highlights]
Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak each had two assists.
The Bruins, coming off a 4-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday, are 6-0-1 in the second of back-to-back games.
"We're a well-conditioned team," McAvoy said. "On the other token, I think it's just a lot of pride."

The Canadiens (17-12-5), who won the first two of their three-game homestand, lost for the second time in seven games.
Montreal goalie Carey Price made 31 saves in his first opportunity to get his 300th NHL win. He was 5-0-0 in his previous six games (five starts).
"He'll get his 300th win, it's more about the team winning games here," Canadiens captain Shea Weber said. "Obviously, he's going to win. He held us in there tonight. There's no excuse for that. We're letting each other down, it's not just him. So guys have to look at each other and know that we all have to be better for each other."
Montreal went 0-for-3 on the power play and is 0-for-25 since scoring Dec. 1.
"I just think we just need to shoot the puck," Price said. "And when things go wrong, it just seems like it's a pretty simple recipe that everybody comes up with, just get the puck towards the net and just jam it in."
Nordstrom gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 2:21 of the first period when he scored off a pass from David Backes.
Cave, who intercepted Michael Chaput's pass to begin the play that led to Nordstrom's goal, made it 2-0 with 26 seconds left in the second. His first goal came in his 13th game of the season and 16th in the NHL.
Krejci made it 3-0 46 seconds into the third, and Marchand scored on the power play at 5:06 to make it 4-0.
Halak's 45th NHL shutout was his second in 10 games against his former team. He made 19 saves for the St. Louis Blues in a 3-0 win in Montreal on Jan. 10, 2012.
"I think any shutout for a goalie on the road for a team he used to play on probably means a little bit more," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said.

They said it

"We wanted to get back on the winning track here. And obviously with the rivalry, Bruins and [Canadiens], guys get up a little bit more, and it was a huge win for us and a complete effort, so we're going to carry that into the next game." -- Bruins forward Colby Cave
"I don't think there's a whole lot that needs to be said. I think everybody in this locker room knows that was a [very bad] effort." -- Canadiens goalie Carey Price

Need to know

It was the Bruins' fifth straight win at Bell Centre dating to Dec. 12, 2016. Boston's longest previous streak of road wins against Montreal was four games from Jan. 11-Dec. 20, 1941. … Price is 299-210-66 in 585 NHL games, all with the Canadiens. … Montreal recalled defenseman Victor Mete from Laval of the American Hockey League after the game. Defenseman Noah Juulsen was assigned to Laval.

What's next

Bruins: Host the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; SN360, SNE, SNP, NESN, PRIME, NHL.TV)
Canadiens: At the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday (8:30 p.m. ET; SN, SN360, ALT, RDS, NHL.TV)