The Bruins spoiled former coach Claude Julien's return to TD Garden by beating his Canadiens, 4-1.
BOSTON – Wednesday was already destined to be a night of firsts at TD Garden.
Former coach Claude Julien paid his first visit since the Bruins fired him last Feb. 7.
Willie O’Ree, the Bruin who became the first black player to compete in an NHL game 60 years ago on Thursday, was honored throughout the day.
The Bruins weren’t really interested in experiencing another first – such as their first loss in regulation since Dec. 14. They avoided it by beating the Julien-coached Canadiens, 4-1, to extend their points streak to 14 games (10-0-4).
One more first the B’s were happy to recognize was a contribution from veteran defenseman Adam McQuaid. Although the broken right fibula he sustained blocking a shot on Oct. 19 had been healed for weeks, he had to wait until Wednesday for an opening on the blue line. The opportunity finally came when Kevan Miller had to miss the game because of illness, and McQuaid was instrumental in helping the Bruins survive a critical two-man disadvantage midway through the second period, preserving a 2-1 lead.
“It felt good to be part of the win,” McQuaid said. “As much fun as it’s been to watch the guys win, when you’re actually on the ice, on the bench, part of the battle, it’s that much more gratifying.”
The Bruins claimed to take no special gratification from beating their former coach for the second time since last Saturday, when they scored a 4-3 shootout decision in Montreal. The teams will meet for the third time in eight days on Saturday night, again at the Bell Centre, although the Bruins’ next chance to extend their best streak since a 15-0-1 run in March 2014 comes in Thursday night’s road game against the Islanders (7:05, NESN, WBZ-FM/98.5).
Julien, his team a long shot to qualify for the playoffs, was the subject of a video tribute that fans cheered during a first-period break in play.
“It’s always something that you kind of dread a little bit, because it’s a little emotional,” said Julien, the Stanley Cup-winning coach in 2011 who was in his 10th season when the B’s replaced him with Bruce Cassidy. “I appreciate what they did for me.”
Julien probably didn’t appreciate seeing Tuukka Rask make 21 saves to extend his points streak to 13-0-2, or watching the Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-David Pastrnak line strike for two goals, including one on a third-period power play (Marchand’s team-high 19th) that made it 3-1.
The B’s were behind inside the first minute, after Habs rookie Jakub Jerabek spun away from Marchand above the left circle, snapped the puck toward the net front, and saw his first career goal carom off Zdeno Chara’s glove and past Rask after just 31 seconds.
The Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak line got that goal back at 6:50. Pastrnak’s 18th of the season came after he was taken down behind the Canadiens net, picked himself up and skated to the left circle, unnoticed. Marchand, on his knees to retrieve a puck in the slot, nudged it to Bergeron, who whipped it to Pastrnak for an easy one-timer.
The Bruins got a break when they took the lead early in the second period. Jake DeBrusk carried the puck up the right side in the neutral zone before feeding Krejci (empty-net goal, assist) who pulled up just inside the Canadiens’ blue line and hit Ryan Spooner coming into the zone. Spooner stickhandled into a poor shooting position and tried to make a backhand pass to net-driving defenseman Matt Grzelcyk, but the puck deflected off Jonathan Drouin’s skate and past Carey Price at 2:37 to give the B’s a 2-1 lead.
The Bruins preserved that lead with the key penalty kill near the halfway mark. Defenseman Charlie McAvoy went off at 8:33 for holding, and Brandon Carlo, one of the Bruins’ three primary penalty-killing defensemen, followed McAvoy to the box at 9:24. McQuaid and Chara helped the Bruins’ survive a 3-on-5 disadvantage that lasted for 1:09.