MONTREAL (AP) — Defenseman Victor Mete scored twice and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins 5-4 on Tuesday night.
Ben Chiarot scored the winner in the third period and Tomas Tatar and Paul Byron also scored for the Canadiens (8-5-2), who have won four of five. Jeff Petry had two assists.
David Pastrnak, Connor Clifton, Anders Bjork and Sean Kuraly scored for the Bruins (11-2-2), who had a six-game win streak halted.
It was hardly a goaltending battle, with Carey Price stopping 21 of 25 shots and Tuukka Rask allowing five goals on 31 shots.
The Canadiens took a 4-3 lead into the third period, but Boston overcame its third deficit of the game when Kuraly surprised Price on a wraparound at 3:03.
Chiarot gave Montreal the win on a wrist shot from the face-off circle at 9:06, just minutes after the Bruins had a goal overturned for offside.
Boston came into the game with one regulation loss this season, on Oct. 10 in Colorado against the Avalanche.
The Bruins were playing the second game of a back-to-back and it showed. They trailed 3-1 in the first period.
Canadiens scored just 1:13 into the game when Mete fired the rebound of a shot by Petry under Rask’s glove for his second of the season.
Pastrnak netted the equalizer six seconds into a Boston power play, a one-timer at 14:55. Pastrnak, the NHL scoring leader, extended his career-high point streak to 13 games.
Montreal was back in it two minutes later. A breakout pass by Brendan Gallagher led to a 2-on-1, with Tatar scoring on a shot off the post.
After Artturi Lehkonen forced a turnover, Byron went scored between Rask’s pads to make it 3-1 for the Canadiens at 17:16 with his first goal of the year.
The Bruins clawed back in the second period.
The Canadiens failed to clear their zone and Clifton made them pay with his first NHL goal at 7:17 on Boston’s first shot of the period to make it 3-2.
The Bruins tied the score at 18:13 when Bjork scored on a loose puck in the crease. Mete gave Montreal the 4-3 lead 42 seconds later with a shot from the point.
NOTES: Montreal’s Claude Julien coached his 1,200th NHL game, while Bruins captain Zdeno Chara played his 1,500th game. Bell Centre fans gave Chara, who is usually booed in Montreal, a rare ovation for the accomplishment. The 42-year-old is the 21st player to reach that mark. … Ryan Poehling made his season debut with Jesperi Kotkaniemi (groin) on the disabled list. … Boston had won five straight games in Montreal.
UP NEXT
Bruins: At Detroit Red Wings on Friday.
Canadiens: At Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.
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