• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Jurcina, Chistov lead Bruins over Canadiens

Dec 24, 2006 - 4:24 AM BOSTON (Ticker) -- Defenseman Milan Jurcina and Stanislav Chistov turned out to be unlikely heroes for the Boston Bruins.

Jurcina netted his first goal of the season and Chistov added an insurance tally as the Bruins defeated the Montreal Canadiens, 4-2.

The win was Boston's third straight and snapped Montreal's five-game winning streak.

"The win was big with the standings so tight and a division game, but you win a game like this going into the break, your confidence keeps building," Boston right wing Brad Boyes said.

"I thought we played an excellent first period and executed the game plan," Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau said. "But, in the second period we took too many penalties, and after they took the lead in the third period, they were waiting for us with four players on their blue line."

Jurcina netted the decisive tally at 6:11 of the third period when his shot from the point went through a maze of players past goaltender Cristobal Huet's left skate for a 3-2 lead.

"It's been a while so I did not know what kind of chance I was going to have, so I just tried to put the puck in the net," Jurcina said.

Just 1:11 later, Chistov's second goal of the season gave the Bruins a 4-2 lead when he skated in and flipped the puck over Huet's glove.

Marco Sturm and defenseman Zdeno Chara also scored for Boston, which got 20 saves from Tim Thomas.

"I was seeing everything early on in the first period and I felt good," Thomas said. "It was kind of a carry-over, actually, in the second period. The guys were playing so well that I started to get cold and didn't feel the rhythm, and between the second and third I had to bear down and be ready."

Michael Ryder and defenseman Mike Komisarek scored goals for Montreal.

"I would have liked to see us extend the winning streak, but now it is time to celebrate Christmas with our families, and come out even stronger next week," Carbonneau said.