Bruins defeat Canadiens, spoil Julien's homecoming

BOSTON --The Boston Bruins extended their point streak to 14 games and spoiled the return of their former coach Claude Julien with a 4-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens at TD Garden on Wednesday.
The Bruins are 10-0-4 in their past 14 games, their best streak since they went 15-0-1 from March 2-30, 2014.

David Pastrnak, Ryan Spooner, Brad Marchand and David Krejci scored for the Bruins (25-10-8), who last lost in regulation 5-3 to the Washington Capitals on Dec. 14.
Tuukka Rask made 21 saves and is 13-0-2 in his past 15 decisions. He hasn't lost in regulation since Nov. 26, 4-2 to the Edmonton Oilers.
WATCH: [All Canadiens vs. Bruins highlights]
"We feel so good about our game that we know over the course of 60 minutes that we'll get our chances if we're working hard and stick to our layers and stick to our defensive posture that will turn into offense for us," Bruins defenseman Torey Krug said. "So you know it's just confidence in our system and the way that we're rolling right now and guys stepping up."
Julien, who coached the Bruins for 10 seasons, was feted with a video tribute during the second timeout of the first period. He was fired by the Bruins on Feb. 7, 2017 and hired by the Canadiens seven days later. This was the first Bruins-Canadiens game in Boston since then.

"It's always something that you kind of dread a little bit, because it's a little emotional, and at the same time you're trying to keep your emotions intact so you can coach a game," Julien said. "I appreciate what they did for [me], and as I said, I've got nothing but good things to say about this organization that gave me the opportunity to spend 10 years here."
Jakub Jerabek scored his first NHL goal, and Carey Price made 28 saves for the Canadiens (18-21-6), who lost their third straight.
"It was a bad game, we're not happy about it," Montreal forward Max Pacioretty said. "It seemed like nobody really wanted the puck, and obviously ... you play against a team like that, that offensive line is probably one of the best in the League, and you give them opportunities to feel good about their game, and they made us pay."
It took the Canadiens 31 seconds to take a 1-0 lead. Jerabek carried the puck wide and tried to pass to a driving Pacioretty, but the puck went off Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara past Rask.

Pastrnak tied the score 1-1 with a one-timer from the left of the slot at 6:50 after a slap pass by Patrice Bergeron.
"Especially that early in a game, it's not that big of a deal being down by a goal," Marchand said. "But yeah, we have a lot of character in here, we've shown that plenty of times throughout the year. We knew that there was still almost 60 minutes left in the game, we could battle back and we did. It ended up being a good game for us."
Spooner gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead at 2:37 of the second period after his shot deflected off Jonathan Drouin's skate into the net. Marchand scored a power-play goal 3:40 into the third period for a 3-1 lead after Krug poked the puck across the slot to him for a tap-in. Krejci scored an empty-net goal with 3:14 left to make it 4-1.

Goal of the game

Spooner's goal 2:37 into the second period.

Save of the game

Rask's save on Nicolas Deslauriers at 7:44 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Pastrnak's goal 6:50 into the first period.

They said it

"Tonight we just laid an egg. Not good enough. So obviously it's a disappointing loss for us, especially in the situation we're in. But we didn't play well, as simple as that. You hope you can bounce back next game and resemble more the team you did in the last four or five [games]." -- Canadiens coach Claude Julien
"You can't say enough about those plays, those turning points in the game. I thought we had been the better team, but they found a way to stay in the game on the road, and that was their opportunity to take control of the game, and we did a good job, a real good job. It doesn't surprise me." -- Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy on killing a 5-on-3 for 1:09 in the second period

Need to know

The Bruins have won their past four games against the Canadiens. They play each other for the third time in eight days at Montreal on Saturday. ... Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid was plus-1 in 15:12 after missing 35 games because of a broken right fibula.

What's next

Canadiens: At the Washington Capitals on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, NBCSWA, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV)
Bruins:At the New York Islanders on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; SN360, MSG+ 2, NESN, NHL.TV)