Guillaume Latendresse could have a different role with the Montreal Canadiens once he's deemed healthy enough to return to the lineup.
Andrei Kostitsyn took his place at left wing on a line with Tomas Plekanec and Alex Kovalev Thursday night and set up two goals in a 2-1 victory over the hometown Boston Bruins.
Tomas Plekanec beats Boston goalie Tim Thomas through the legs late in the first period.
(Charles Krupa/Associated Press)
The newly formed unit combined for six points, with Kovalev and Plekanec scoring, as the Canadiens skated to their fifth consecutive win over Boston and improved to 9-3-3 on the season.
"These kinds of games put you to sleep," Kovalev said. "It's definitely not fun to play, but they like to trap you and force you into mistakes."
Montreal withstood a late charge by the Bruins, thanks to the play of rookie goaltender Carey Price, who stopped 28 of 29 shots on the night.
"That was pretty close to a perfect game," Price said. "We slowed the game down and limited their chances."
He demonstrated the poise of a veteran as he helped the Canadiens survive a two-man disadvantage in the third period and denied Boston forward Phil Kessel in the final seconds.
Price picks up 3rd win
"It's a really good feeling when those penalties happen and you see the entire bench get up and want to kill them," Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau said.
Marco Sturm was the lone Bruin to beat Price, who improved to 3-1-1 in five starts.
Boston, which began the night having scored the second-fewest goals in the NHL, is struggling mightily without top centre Patrice Bergeron.
Before the game, Bergeron addressed the media for the first time since he suffered a concussion and broken nose after being hit from behind by Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Randy Jones in an Oct. 27 contest.
Bruins fans were left with an eerie flashback of Bergeron's injury when defenceman Aaron Ward lay motionless on the ice late in the third period.
Ward was hit with an elbow by Canadiens defenceman Francis Bouillon and was face down for about one minute before starting to move his feet while a stretcher was brought onto the ice. A groggy Ward was helped off the ice by a pair of teammates and was still being treated after the game, but was not taken to a hospital.
Tim Thomas was stellar once again in the Bruins net, making 30 saves while losing his fourth game of the season and third straight by a 2-1 score.
Thomas solid in defeat
Thomas rebounded from a 6-1 loss to the Canadiens in Montreal on Oct. 22, but couldn't help Boston (7-6-2) halt a losing streak that has stretched to four games.
Plekanec beat Thomas through the legs at 17:05 of the first period and appeared to have his fifth goal of the season, but Kovalev poked the slow-moving puck across the goalline for his eighth of the campaign.
Plekanec made no mistake midway through the second period. After taking a pretty Kostitsyn flip pass in the high slot, he made a move on Thomas and tucked the puck into an open net for an insurmountable 2-0 lead.
Boston cut the lead in half a little more than five minutes later as Sturm notched his sixth goal of the season and fifth on home ice. With teammate Chuck Kobasew providing a screen, he spun around in the slot and backhanded a shot past Price.
But the Bruins couldn't draw the equalizer as Price came up big against Kessel late in the second and stopped P.J. Axelsson from in close.
Montreal had several opportunities at an insurance goal, but Thomas stepped up with a right pad save on Chris Higgins midway through the third period and kicked aside a Mathieu Dandenault shot on a 2-on-1 short-handed rush.
Kovalev had a glorious chance to score his second of the night, but fanned on a shot as he skated across the slot with three minutes left on the clock.
The Canadiens, who are 5-1-1 as the visitor this season, travel to Ottawa to face the Senators on Saturday (CBC, 3 p.m. ET).
With files from the Associated PressRelated
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