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Dandenault, Canadiens crush Bruins again

Jan 11, 2008 - 4:23 AM By Mike Petraglia PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

BOSTON (Ticker) -- The Montreal Canadiens continue to frustrate the Boston Bruins.

Mathieu Dandenault tallied twice, defenseman Mark Streit added a pair of assists and Cristobal Huet stopped 23 shots to lead the Canadiens over the Bruins, 5-2, on Thursday at TD Banknorth Garden.

Montreal's league-leading power-play unit, which is clicking at a 25 percent rate, scored twice on six opportunities.

"They have a really big and tough and strong team," Dandenault said. "We have a lot of speed, so it's huge. We have the No. 1 power play, and if teams are going to take runs at us and play chippy, we're going to make them pay."

Alexei Kovalev and Tomas Plekanec each had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens, who have outscored the Bruins, 24-10, in winning all five meetings this season.

With the loss, Boston finished its second five-game homestand in three weeks with a 3-2-0 mark.

Montreal took advantage of Boston's lack of discipline in the opening period to seize control early.

The Bruins were called for their second penalty when Marco Sturm drilled Plekanec with an elbow in the corner to the right of goaltender Tim Thomas at 9:22. With Sturm in the box, it was Plekanec who made the Bruins pay.

The Czech attempted to center a pass to Andrei Kostitsyn, but for the second time in as many games, the puck deflected off the skate of Bruins captain Zdeno Chara and past Thomas for a 1-0 lead with 9:24 left in the opening period.

"I think we knew Boston was going to probably come out really hard and (with) a lot of energy, and we knew we had to be ready," said Streit, who also assisted on Montreal's first goal. "They took a lot of penalties and we punished them early. Then in the second period, we slowed down a little and they came right back. We were happy to get a win here."

Less than a minute later, the Canadiens doubled their advantage when Maxim Lapierre charged down on Thomas from the right wing. The netminder made the initial save but could not control the puck, and Lapierre put back the rebound for his second goal of the campaign just seconds before the net came off its moorings.

"We talked about it before the game," Bruins defenseman Aaron Ward said. "It's discipline in your system and discipline in not taking penalties, and they have such an effective power play, tops in the league right now. We can't just basically allow a road team to come in here and get the jump on us."

Montreal finished the first period 1-for-4 on the power play.

The Canadiens again used the man advantage to tally in the second session. Shawn Thornton was one of five players whistled for roughing during a scrum behind Boston's net at 11:48 of the middle period, but was given a double-minor.

Kovalev capitalized when his wrist shot from the right faceoff circle beat Thomas high to the glove side for his team-leading 19th goal and a 3-0 lead at 13:18 in the second.

"We don't run around or hesitate or panic," Streit said. "We just play our game, play it simple, keep the puck out of the middle and get it in deep."

After coach Claude Julien criticized his team for a lack of offense and desire in a 1-0 loss to Carolina on Tuesday, the Bruins again struggled to find the net.

"The No. 1 key was to stay out of the penalty box," Julien said. "We got ourselves in trouble. They have a lot of skill players on that club, and they made us pay tonight."

Boston's drought of 114 minutes, 41 seconds finally ended when Ward, who returned to the lineup after missing time with a sore foot, drilled a slap shot from the right point that missed the net. However, the puck bounced off the end boards before deflecting off Huet's back and into the net at 14:41 of the second, cutting the deficit to 3-1.

The Bruins drew closer in the opening moments of the third, when rookie Milan Lucic's shot from the left circle glanced off the pads of Huet and into the net at 2:01.

"We worked all night as hard as we could, but we didn't work smart," Bruins center Marc Savard said. "We took penalties we probably shouldn't have. We grab on to guys when we want to do more, but that doesn't pay, obviously, and their power play killed us."

The Canadiens got valuable insurance when a bouncing puck off the side boards was controlled by Dandenault. The right wing broke in alone and beat Thomas between the pads with a backhander at 11:56, creating a 4-2 advantage.

"It was just a wraparound around the boards and I think their (defenseman) misplayed it," Dandenault said. "It was bouncing a bit and it was a weak backhand. Thomas is probably frustrated with it because it was weak. But obviously, it killed any momentum they had because they were playing real well in the third period."

Dandenault sealed the win with his sixth of the season with 71 seconds remaining.

Thomas made 28 saves for the Bruins.