Montreal, QC (Sports Network) - Cristobal Huet stopped 32 shots for his
seventh shutout of the season to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 2-0 win over
the Boston Bruins in the opener of a two-game series at the Bell Centre.
Garth Murray scored both goals for the Canadiens, who have a season-high
six game winning streak and with 85 points move into seventh place in the
Eastern Conference playoff race.
For Huet it was his third straight shutout versus Boston, who he blanked in a
2-0 win on February 4 and a 3-0 victory on March 9.
"I guess I like to play them," said Huet about his play against Boston. "But,
it's still a team game. We have alot of success against that team."
Tim Thomas stopped 33 shots for the Bruins, who have dropped three straight
and six of their last seven games and have been eliminated from playoff
contention.
"The effort's there, personal pride is there," said Thomas. "My defense played
5-on-5 perhaps one of their best games I can remember and I guess thats
something to take into the next game.
The teams wrap up the series on Tuesday.
The first 20 minutes was a scoreless affair. Both teams had two power-play
chances and Boston outshot Montreal, 12-8.
Both teams had 12 shots on net in the second period, but it was Montreal that
grabbed the 1-0 lead with the only goal of the period.
Alexander Perezhogin brought the puck into the Bruins zone and fought off a
checker to get the puck to Murray at the right circle. Murray skated to the
front of the net and fired a shot between the legs of Thomas with four minutes
left until the second intermission.
"I was glad to score before the end of the second," said Murray. "It gave us a
little more confidence."
The Habs gave themselves some breathing room when Murray made it a 2-0 game.
Craig Rivet let fly with a wrist shot from the top of the right circle that
was redirected in front of the net by Murray 7:07 into the third period.
