Adam Oates and Ted Donato scored power-play goals 51 seconds apart late in the second period and the Boston Bruins defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in Saturday night's NHL playoff opener.
The Bruins, who scored on just two of their final 39 power plays during the regular season, got all three of their goals with a man advantage.Boston hosts Montreal on Monday night in Game 2 of the opening-round series. The Bruins have defeated the Canadiens in four of their last five playoff series.
The victory broke a Boston streak of eight consecutive playoff losses. The Bruins were eliminated in four straight by Pittsburgh in the second round in 1992 and in four games by Buffalo in the first round last year.
Mariusz Czerkawski, who joined the Bruins a week ago after playing in the Swedish playoffs, scored the other Boston goal. Ray Bourque had a pair of assists, tying him for ninth in career playoff assists with former Canadien Jean Beliveau with 97.
Brian Bellows and Mike Keane scored for Montreal, which won just one of its final 10 road games during the regular season.
Despite the loss, Patrick Roy was magnificent in goal for Montreal. He made four excellent saves in the second period, including a stop against Oates on a breakaway and a follow shot by Glen Wesley.
Jon Casey, who was pulled from three of his last four games during the regular season, had to make few difficult saves for the Bruins.
Bellows opened the scoring 6:55 into the game when he came from behind the Bruins' net and backhanded the puck through Casey's legs. Czerkawski tied the game by flipping a rebound over Roy's right shoulder eight minutes later.
Keane gave Montreal a 2-1 lead with 6:19 gone in the second period when he beat Casey on a breakaway, but Oates tied the game with 1:08 left in the period when he tipped in Czerkawski's pass across the front of the goal while Boston had a 5-on-3 advantage.
Donato scored with 17 seconds left in the period on a rebound, celebrating the Bruins' first lead of the night by pumping his fists repeatedly in the air.