In Boston, the Bruins took a 2-0 lead in the first period on Thursday and then held off the Montreal Canadiens in a 4-2 win, for their fifth straight. 
Tyler Bertuzzi and Jake DeBrusk scored in the opening stanza for the two-goal lead.
“It’s one of those things where I’m just trying to build my game, as we all are, going into the playoffs,” DeBrusk said.
Jeremy Swayman made 29 saves in the Bruins win.
“We want to do our job every night,” Swayman said. “[Fellow goaltender Linus Ullmark and I] know every time we touch the ice, we want to help the team have a chance to win every night. Some games are good, some games are bad, but we just want to do our job every night.”
Boston moved to 55-11-5.
“Physicality is part of the game,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “It’s not like we’re running around to go get physical, but there’s a situation on the ice that presents itself that you have to be physical. Some games there’s more of an opportunity than others. Early on, you saw a little bit of that, but I thought we stayed calm and collected and just kept playing.”
The Bruins were called for a five-minute cross-check major in the first period which enabled the Canadiens to claw back to a 201 deficit after the first period.
Nick Suzuki potted the power play marker for the Habs.
“I thought we brought a good game to them,” Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson said. “They’re a very good, powerful team that’ll capitalize when you give them the chances and so, at the end of the day, we did give them the chances, but I think overall we can take a lot of good parts of that game.”
David Pastrnak scored his 49th of the campaign in the second period for a 23-1 lead to Boston.
“This is the kind of game that all you’re thinking about is to get a win,” Pastrnak said. “All these games against Montreal never get old, so it doesn’t really matter where you are [in the standings]. Each team brings so much history, so it’s a big win.”
Kirby Dach replied for Montreal at 16:13 off the power play for a 3-2 deficit headed to the third period.
“Guys are sticking up for each other,” Suzuki said. “It’s a rivalry that goes back many years, and you saw that tonight right from the get-go. It was important for us to bring that energy against them in their arena, and I thought we did a good job of that.”
David Krejci iced the win for Boston at 12:16 for the 4-2 final.
“In the third period, I thought we played the right way,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery said. “[We were] very loose before that. Happy that we got the two points; it’s a tough league to win in, and I know we’ve won a lot this year, but it really is.”
The Canadiens dropped to 28-38-6 off its 10th loss in 12 games.
Jake Allen made 17 saves in the Montreal loss.
“The way [the Bruins] kind of kill [penalties] is guys kind of go out in front,” Dach said. “So, we were able to find that same backdoor and just angle my stick and hope ‘Mikey’ (Matheson) makes [the play].”
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