• Recap
• Bleachers

Sobotka, Sturm lead Bruins past Canadiens

Sep 23, 2008 - 1:08 AM HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (Ticker) -- After a surprise berth in the playoffs last season, the Boston Bruins' journey back to another postseason berth got off to a rousing start in their preseason opener against the Montreal Canadiens.

Vladimir Sobotka and Marco Sturm each tallied two goals as the Bruins used four second-period tallies to rout the Canadiens, 8-3, on Monday.

It was rematch of last season's Eastern Conference quarterfinals, where Montreal defeated Boston in seven games.

Patrice Bergeron, who missed almost all of last season after suffering a concussion just 10 games into the campaign, scored a goal and added two assists for the Bruins in his return to the ice. Bergeron was knocked unconscious on a hit by Randy Jones of the Philadelphia Flyers and suffered a broken nose and a Grade 3 concussion.

Sobotka gave Boston an early lead, but Ben Maxwell tied the game late in the first period to send the teams to intermission tied at 1-1.

After Sobotka gave the Bruins the lead back for good, Sturm and Andrew Ference each netted a goal to stake Boston to a 4-1 advantage.

Montreal cut the deficit to 4-2 on a goal by Tomas Plekanec, but Bergeron capped the scoring in the period with 10 seconds left.

Manny Fernandez was in net for Boston over the first two periods and turned away 10 of Montreal's 12 shots. Jaroslav Halak registered 24 saves for Montreal.

Each team was called for four major fighting penalties, with three of the scuffles coming in a two-minute span midway through the third period.