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Seven different Canadiens score in win over Bruins

Nov 18, 2007 - 4:32 AM MONTREAL (Ticker) -- The Montreal Canadiens continued their mastery of the Boston Bruins on Saturday.

Seven different Canadiens scored to help the team defeat the Boston Bruins, 7-4, on Saturday in a battle of "Original Six" clubs.

Montreal has defeated Boston all three times the clubs have met this season, outscoring the Bruins, 15-6, in the process. In addition, the Canadiens have won nine of the last 10 matchups at the Bell Centre.

Captain Saku Koivu, Tom Kostopoulos, Andrei Kostitsyn, Guillaume Latendresse, Alexei Kovalev and defensemen Roman Hamrlik and Mike Komisarek scored for Montreal.

After the teams alternated scoring the game's first six goals, Latendresse's tally with 2 1/2 minutes remaining in the second period gave the Canadiens a 4-3 lead.

"I tried to bring something good," Latendresse said. "We knew Boston was a really physical team, and we had to match that. That's what happened there (on the goal)."

After being denied by goaltender Tim Thomas on his first chance, Latendresse made good on his second attempt from short range, sending the puck into the top right corner of the net.

Hamrlik gave the Canadiens a two-goal cushion 4:23 into the third period after fending off defenseman Aaron Ward and beating a prone Thomas.

Komisarek scored midway through the third period to give Montreal a three-goal bulge. Assisting on the goal was Koivu, who pulled into a tie with Hall of Famer Bernie Geoffrion for 10th place on the franchise list with 388.

"It was good hockey for two periods and then we got a couple of goals lead, and I guess that was when the frustration played a part in the last 10 minutes," Koivu said. "At this level, it's not always about the skills or who's playing. It's more about the effort and who really wants to win the game."

After Glen Murray scored the second of his two goals 52 seconds later, Kovalev capped the scoring with six minutes to go in an extremely chippy game between the bitter rivals.

"As long as we win, that's the kind of game I like," Kovalev said. "The way we played the last game (in Buffalo), we didn't do anything offensively. We didn't go to the net, we didn't take the puck to the net.

"It seems we did a lot better tonight, when I saw 52 shots (on the scoreboard). That is a lot of shots, but I think that is the way we should play."

Koivu's power-play goal opened the scoring 2:40 into the first period, but Murray leveled the game just 47 seconds later.

Despite the two-goal effort, Murray was not thrilled with his team's play.

"We took a couple of penalties out of frustration, I think," he said. "They capitalized on a lot of our mistakes tonight."

The Canadiens regained the advantage 79 seconds into the second period.

Thomas misplayed the puck behind the net, and Kyle Chipchura gained possession before feeding Kostopoulos in the slot. The Mississauga, Ontario native deposited the puck past Thomas to give Montreal a 2-1 edge.

Defenseman Zdeno Chara responded less than two minutes later with his first goal of the season.

Kostitsyn gave Montreal a 3-2 edge just 4:59 into the second period, but Marco Sturm knotted the contest midway through the session after accepting a feed from Murray in the slot and beating rookie netminder Carey Price.

Price finished with 32 saves, while Thomas stopped 45 shots.

"I don't think I've been part of a game like that for a very long time, if ever," Thomas said.

Boston coach Claude Julien felt his team just was not there.

"Our biggest concern is that our heads weren't in it," Julien said. "I thought we gave (Montreal) almost everything they got. It was just poor decision-making. We iced the puck twice playing 4-on-4. For some reason, we just didn't seem sharp."