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Latendresse's goals lift Canadiens over Bruins

Mar 21, 2007 - 4:03 AM MONTREAL (Ticker) -- A pair of rookies came up big at a crucial time for the Montreal Canadiens.

Guillaume Latendresse scored the lone goal and goaltender Jaroslav Halak made 30 saves in his first career shutout as the Canadiens posted an important 1-0 victory over the Boston Bruins.

The Canadiens (37-31-6) have won four of their last five games and moved into an eighth-place tie with the Carolina Hurricanes (36-29-8) and the Toronto Maple Leafs (35-28-10) for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

"It's a good win for us and the guys were helping me there," Halak said. "For me it's special, it's my first career shutout in the NHL, so I'm really glad."

With just a minute left in the second period, Latendresse skated in on a 2-on-1 with Andrei Kostitsyn, took a pass from the slot and fired the puck between goaltender Tim Thomas' pads for a 1-0 lead.

"It was a tight game where there wasn't going to be a lot of goals, so when I scored I knew it would be an important goal," Latendresse said. "It was the only goal we were going to score, and Halak played a good game, too.

"(Mike) Komisarek made a good pass and I think their defenseman went on Kostitsyn a little bit and he just tipped it (the puck) to me. I played 1-on-1 with the defenseman, and that opened the ice for me to get my shot."

The shot seemed to catch Thomas a little off guard.

"It was a good shot, he shot from in close to his body," Thomas said. "It's not really a shovel, but to get it up hard from there is pretty tough, and when it does, it surprises you."

It was just the second game-winner of the season for the right winger, who has five goals in his last six games. He also netted the decisive tally in a 4-3 triumph over the Bruins on December 12.

Halak, who made 37 saves in a 3-2 overtime victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, won his second straight start after four consecutive losses. He stopped 31 shots in a 3-1 loss to Boston on March 3.

"You can see it in the net, he's playing as well as he did but he looks different," Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau said. "On the ice and off the ice he prepares himself, and he says the right things. I think the experience he has gotten the past two weeks was a big thing."

Thomas made 31 saves for the Bruins (34-33-5), who have won just two of their last seven games and were shut out for the second straight game. They lost, 7-0, to the New York Rangers on Saturday.

"We didn't go to the net enough," Boston center Patrice Bergeron said. "He (Halak) was good but we got some rebounds and didn't take advantage of them."