BOSTON (AP) – It doesn't matter who is coaching the Canadiens or how many points separate them from Boston in the standings, the Bruins never take it easy against Montreal.
David Krejci scored off his skate to break a second-period tie, and Tim Thomas stopped 33 shots on Monday night to lead Boston to a 3-2 victory over the slumping Canadiens. Montreal lost its third consecutive game — two of them since firing coach Jacques Martin and replacing him with Randy Cunneyworth."It's like a wounded animal," said Bruins forward Andrew Ference, who assisted on Krejci's goal. "They become pretty dangerous when they're backed into a corner.
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"You don't take people for granted. Fired coach or not, you prepare for every team like they're dangerous, because that's the reality."
Benoit Pouliot and Brad Marchand also scored for the Bruins, who have won 19 of 22 since losing back-to-back games to Montreal at the end of October.
"I don't even look at the standings," said Thomas, the defending Vezina and Conn Smythe Trophy winner. "I don't think too much about who the coach is and who the coach isn't. That's a distraction."
Carey Price made 28 saves and Tomas Plekanec scored for the Canadiens, who have lost nine of their last 12 — a streak that cost one of the NHL's winningest coaches his job and left them in last place in the Northeast Division.
The Canadiens fired Martin on Saturday, cutting loose a coach who earned his 600th NHL victory last year — ninth on the career list. Cunneyworth was an assistant on the staff; his promotion has caused controversy in Quebec because he doesn't speak French.
"Whoever's on the bench it's always tough to lose two games," Plekanec said. "And it's not fun at all."
Boston led 3-1 when Montreal pulled Price and cut the deficit to one.
After a turnover in the Boston zone, David Desharnais shot from the right circle and Erik Cole tipped it past Thomas. The Canadiens, again with a 6-on-5, put pressure on for the final minute but Chris Campoli's shot on an outnumbered Thomas hit a Montreal player in front.
"Thank God we got another goal because we needed it," Bruins coach Claude Julien said.
Dennis Seidenberg hit the post of the empty net with less than a second to play.
The Bruins took the lead with 7:47 left in the first period when Rich Peverley won a faceoff and moved in on Price. He slid it across the slot to Pouliot, who also broke for the net off the faceoff and redirected it into the net.
But Montreal scored just 73 seconds later when Michael Cammalleri backhanded a pass through two Bruins in front of the net and found Plekanec for the goal.
It stayed that way until early in the second Ference centered it and Krejci, sliding toward the crease, gave the puck a nudge into the net. The play was reviewed, but the goal stood.
The Bruins made it 3-1 with just under 6 minutes left when Patrice Bergeron forced a turnover at the Canadiens' blue line and Tyler Seguin picked up the puck in the zone. He found Marchand all alone in front of the net for a backhanded, falling-down wrist shot for his 12th goal of the season.
"It's important that we make fewer mistakes," Cunneyworth said. "The few mistakes we did make were costly and you can't make them against a team like Boston."
TORONTO — Dustin Brown scored the only goal of a shootout Monday and the Los Angeles Kings wrapped up a bizarre road trip with a 3-2 win over the Maple Leafs on Monday night.
Maple Leafs goalie James Reimer made 40 saves, and Justin Williams and Brown scored in regulation for Los Angeles.
John-Michael Liles and Matt Frattin scored for Toronto, which has two wins in the last nine games.
Stars 5, Ducks 3
DALLAS — Michael Ryder scored the go-ahead goal at 6:42 of the third period after Dallas had wasted a three-goal lead, and the Stars went on to 5-3 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Monday night.
With the game even at 3, Ryder skated up the middle and converted Loui Eriksson's setup for Ryder's 11th of the season.
Eric Nystrom added an insurance goal for Dallas at 14:19 of the third.
Dallas' Alex Goligoski and Mike Ribeiro scored power-play goals over a 24-second span in the second period. Brenden Morrow also connected for the Stars.
Avalanche 3, Flyers 2 (SO)
DENVER — Ryan O'Reilly scored in the first round of a shootout and the Colorado Avalanche beat Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 Monday night for their sixth consecutive victory at home.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere turned away a shot by Matt Read in the shootout and had 31 saves for the Avalanche, who are 8-1 after regulation and undefeated in six shutouts.
The Flyers tied it in the final minute of regulation with their goalie pulled, on Wayne Simmonds' 10th goal of the season. He punched the puck in from up close amid heavy traffic in front of the net.
Red Wings 3, Oilers 2
EDMONTON, Alberta — Drew Miller scored with 4:15 remaining in the third period and the Detroit Red Wings beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 Monday night.
Dan Cleary and Jiri Hudler also scored for Detroit, which has won 12 of its last 15 games.
Ryan Jones and Jordan Eberle had Edmonton's goals. The Oilers have lost four in a row and nine of 11.
Canucks 4, Wild 0
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Roberto Luongo made 33 saves to earn his first shutout of the season, helping the Vancouver Canucks beat the Minnesota Wild 4-0 Monday night.
Henrik Sedin scored a goal and added two assists to extend his points streak to three games and twin brother Daniel added three assists to help the Canucks win for the 11th time in 14 games.
At 20-9-5, the Wild are off to their best start in franchise history, even after their fourth straight loss.
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