MONTREAL (AP) — Jake DeBrusk scored 25 seconds into overtime, and the Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 on Thursday.
DeBrusk was set up by Bruins captain Brad Marchand, ending a high-energy night at the Bell Centre. It was DeBrusk’s 16th goal of the season.
Danton Heinen scored in the first period for Boston (39-14-15), which was coming off a 5-1 loss to St. Louis on Monday. Linus Ullmark made 18 saves in his second straight win.
Nick Suzuki scored for Montreal (25-30-11). Sam Montembeault stopped 22 shots.
The historic rivalry drew both “Let’s Go Bruins!” and “Go Habs Go!” chants at the Bell Centre — and jeers for Marchand every time he touched the puck. The matchup has overwhelmingly favored Boston in recent years, with the Bruins winning 13 of 14 meetings.
“The biggest rivalry probably in hockey, you expect that,” DeBrusk said. “The Bell Centre here has great fans. We heard when they had swings, we heard when we had swings.”
The Canadiens jumped on the power play with 8:53 left in the third period, only for Suzuki to take a double-minor penalty for high-sticking Charlie McAvoy a minute into the man advantage — leading to a mix of cheers and jeers from the crowd.
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Montreal killed off Boston’s power play, which didn’t generate any quality chances.
The Bruins defeated the Canadiens 9-4 in their last meeting in Boston on Jan. 20, and appeared to have the upper hand again early on Thursday.
Heinen opened the scoring at 4:49, sliding a rebound past Montembeault while falling after a check from Juraj Slafkovsky in front of the net.
“He’s a good hockey player. I know that he complements people,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery said of Heinen, who was signed on a professional tryout in training camp. “He’s a real intelligent player that can play all 200 feet.”
Boston dominated the play through 11 minutes, outshooting the Canadiens 8-1 while holding the puck in Montreal’s zone for minutes at a time.
Suzuki evened the game at 14:37 with his 26th of the season, tying a career high.
Cole Caufield started the play with a relentless forecheck that led to a Brandon Carlo turnover. The puck eventually fell to Slafkovsky, who set up Suzuki for the tying score.
“We’re continuing to develop as a team, we’re playing well and we’re showing consistency in our performances, and our schedule is tough,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “It’s a good challenge for us. You’ve gotta embrace it when it’s hard.”
Andrew Peeke made his Bruins debut after Boston acquired the 25-year-old defenseman from the Columbus Blue Jackets for Jakub Zboril and a third-round draft pick ahead of last week’s trade deadline.
Peeke slotted in on Boston’s third pair alongside Parker Wotherspoon.
Forward Colin White returned to the Canadiens lineup after missing four games with an upper-body injury.
Montgomery said the game wasn’t “a Picasso,” but noted it was important for the Bruins to win this type of game late in the season.
“I didn’t think we had our normal legs, for whatever reason, but our guys dug down and found a way to win,” he said.
UP NEXT
Bruins: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday in the opener of a three-game homestand.
Canadiens: At Calgary Flames on Saturday in the first of a five-game trip.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL