BOSTON (AP) – Milan Jurcina and Stanislav Chistov scored 1:11 apart early in the third period to lift the Boston Bruins to a 4-2 win over Montreal on Saturday night, ending the Canadiens’ five-game winning streak.

Marco Sturm had a power-play goal for Boston, and Zdeno Chara had the other score to help the Bruins win their third straight.

Michael Ryder scored a short-handed goal for the Canadiens, who lost for just the second time in eight games. Michael Komisarek had Montreal’s other goal.

Tim Thomas, coming off his second career shutout Thursday, stopped 20 shots for Boston. Cristobal Huet made 27 saves for the Canadiens.

With the score tied 2-2, Marc Savard got a loose puck in the corner, circled the boards and sent a pass to Jurcina, who beat Huet inside the right post from the point for his first goal of the season at 6:11. Chistov showed a burst of speed, cutting around Komisarek and slipping a shot between Huet’s pads for his second of the season, making it 4-2.

The Canadiens, unbeaten in regulation since a 6-5 loss to the Bruins in Montreal on Dec. 4, erased a two-goal deficit midway through the second period.

Montreal cut it to 2-1 when Komisarek scored on a deflected shot from the left point with 3:54 left in the opening period. Ryder’s short-handed score tied it 12:08 into the second.

After Alex Kovalev was given minor penalties for tripping and unsportsmanlike conduct, Saku Koivu took a loose puck and rushed out of the zone, setting up a 2-on-1 break. He slipped a cross-ice pass to Ryder, who fired a shot past a diving Thomas.

The Bruins grabbed a 1-0 lead on Chara’s goal 8:29 into the first period when his slap shot from the left point appeared to take a short hop past Huet. They made it 2-0 on Sturm’s power-play goal 4:14 later when he one-timed Bergeron’s pass from the right circle. Thomas kept the game scoreless with a couple of splendid stops in the opening 41/2 minutes. He robbed Mike Johnson with a sliding glove stop and made a diving glove save on Sergei Samsonov.

Notes: Bergeron extended his consecutive point streak to eight games, one short of his career best set earlier this season. … Bruins winger P.J. Axelsson missed his 10th straight game with a left foot injury. … Montreal plays its next three games away from the Bell Centre. … The Canadiens had won the prior two meetings against the Bruins after losing the teams’ first of the season. … It was a lively crowd, filled with many Montreal fans that could be heard chanting ‘Let’s Go Habs!’ a number of times.

AP-ES-12-23-06 2148EST


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