MONTREAL — Right winger Brendan Gallagher’s second goal of the night stood as the game-winner to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 6-4 victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night at the Bell Centre.
Left wingers Max Pacioretty and Jiri Sekac, and right winger Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau (twice) also scored for Montreal (3-1-0), which was facing the Bruins for the first time since eliminating their long-time rival from the playoffs last spring.
Defenseman Zdeno Chara, center Carl Soderberg and left wingers Loui Eriksson and Simon Gagne provided the offense for Boston.
Goaltender Carey Price stopped 25 shots for Montreal.
Goalie Tuukka Rask, in his second start in as many nights, made 18 saves for the Bruins (2-4-0) before being chased midway through the third period. Back-up netminder Niklas Svedberg stopped the two shots he faced in relief.
Chara got things started for the Bruins at 9:03 of the first period when he deflected center David Krejci’s point shot from the blue line on the power play. It was his first goal and first point in six games this season.
The Canadiens’ struggling power play replied two-and-a-half minutes later to tie the game at 1. Center David Desharnais’ shot from the ice hit Bruins blueliner Adam McQuaid and found its way to Pacioretty’s skate and past Rask. The goal snapped an 0-for-14 drought that plagued Montreal through its first four games.
Shortly after an apparent Montreal go-ahead goal was waved off, the Canadiens got one that counted, with Gallagher potting his second of the season at 7:43. Pacioretty’s shot from the right circle went through Rask’s legs and Desharnais got a piece of it before Gallagher tapped the loose puck from the left side into the back of the net.
It was back to square one less than a minute later when Soderberg fired one from the slot.
Defenseman Torey Krug took advantage of a battle in front the net to restore the Bruins’ lead. With Montreal center Tomas Plekanec and left winger Loui Eriksson by the goal crease, Krug outwaited Canadiens defenseman Mike Weaver, who went down to block the shot, and banked one in off Eriksson’s skate.
Sekac’s first NHL strike knotted the score at 3 when the puck bounced out of the crease to the 22-year-old’s stick in the right circle at 18:11 of the middle frame.
A Plekanec pass to Parenteau in the high slot gave the Gatineau, Que., native his first in a Canadiens uniform and his new club a 4-3 lead at 19:36.
Gallagher scored his second when Pacioretty tipped defenseman Alexei Emelin’s point shot and the puck deflected off the forward into the net at 7:17 of the third period. The goal chased Rask from the Bruins net.
Gagne cut the Canadiens’ lead to one when he poked a loose puck to the right of Price past the goal line at 14:11.
Parenteau sealed it with an empty-netter on the power-play at 19:40.
Islanders 4, Sharks 3 (SO)
Islanders 4, Sharks 3 (SO): John Tavares recorded two assists in regulation and scored deciding goal in the fifth round of the shootout as New York defeated visiting San Jose to remain unbeaten.
Kyle Okposo collected a goal and an assist while Josh Bailey and defenseman Nick Leddy each scored for the Islanders. Tavares made a nifty deke to score in the bonus format and Jaroslav Halak (20 saves) stopped Joe Thornton to end it for New York, which is off to a 4-0-0 start for the third time in club history.
Defenseman Brent Burns registered a goal and an assist while Thornton had two helpers for the Sharks (3-0-1). Patrick Marleau and Tomas Hertl also scored and Alex Stalock turned aside 42 shots for San Jose, which got one shootout goal from Logan Couture in the first round before Okposo tied it in the third.
San Jose was outshot 14-3 in the first period before Burns snapped a scoreless tie 1:39 into the second, beating Halak from the left faceoff circle with a one-timer after a cross-ice pass by Joe Pavelski. Leddy tied it 2:26 later with his second goal in as many games on a rising shot from the top of the right circle.
NBA
Durant has surgery on foot
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant had successful surgery Thursday on his right foot. The procedure was performed in Charlotte, North Carolina.
He will be re-evaluated in six weeks.
The team is optimistic that the league’s most valuable player will make a complete recovery and be able to return to action soon after being re-evaluated.
Durant complained of an “achy” pain in his foot after Saturday’s practice. Because the fracture, called a Jones fracture, was diagnosed before it became more serious, his recovery time has been pegged at 6-8 weeks. A Jones fracture involves a broken bone at the base of the small toe.
“We’re really fortunate that we’re catching it when we’re catching it,” general manager Sam Presti said. “We are very fortunate that Kevin notified us (Saturday) and that we’re kind of catching it on the front end, before this became more of an acute issue.”
Durant might only miss the first month of the season.