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Chara injured as Bruins top Canadiens

Sep 21, 2006 - 2:32 AM MONTREAL (Ticker) -- New general manager Peter Chiarelli and the rest of the Boston Bruins are holding their collective breaths.

Stud defenseman Zdeno Chara scored a power-play goal before leaving with an ankle injury as the Bruins skated to a 3-1 preseason triumph over the Montreal Canadiens.

The assistant GM for Ottawa before being hired by Boston during the offseason, Chiarelli imported a familiar face in Chara, who signed to a five-year, $37.5 million contract with the Bruins on July 1 after spending the previous four campaigns with the Senators.

While killing a 5-on-3 power play for the Canadiens in the first period, Chara was hit in the left ankle by fellow blue-liner Sheldon Souray's slap shot. The 6-9 Slovakian remained in the game and opened the scoring at 8:26 with a man-advantage tally but did not return after the first intermission.

Jeff Hoggan doubled the lead for Boston with 19 seconds to go in the first, but Mike Johnson - who was obtained from Phoenix over the summer - got Montreal on the board just under 17 minutes into the middle session.

Brian Finley started the third period in place of Hannu Toivonen and turned aside all nine shots he faced, and Brad Boyes scored into an empty net with two seconds remaining to seal the victory.

Newcomer Marc Savard recorded an assist and Toivonen made 24 saves over two periods for the Bruins.

David Aebischer yielded two goals on 13 shots for Montreal, which played without captain Saku Koivu.