Facing one of the hottest team in the NHL, the Boston Bruins surprised the Montreal Canadiens Saturday night with a 4-2 victory at TD Banknorth Garden.

Marc Savard led the way with two assists and defenceman Milan Jurcina's first tally of the season was the game-winning goal.

Bruins defenceman Paul Mara is taken down in front of Montreal goalie Cristobal Huet (39) by Francis Bouillon Saturday night in Boston.
(Winslow Townson/Associated Press)

The win evens the season series at two games apiece, and the Bruins (18-13-2) earned their third straight victory.

"We had a talk before the game that this was the biggest game of the year," Savard said. "These guys were hot. It was an awesome crowd. Hopefully they keep coming back."

The Canadiens (21-9-5) went into Saturday night's contest against the hometown Bruins winners of five consecutive games. Montreal had also posted victories in six of its last eight trips to Boston, including three straight.

While he didn't face many shots, goaltender Tim Thomas was terrific between the pipes for Boston, making 20 saves en route to his ninth win in his last 12 starts.

"It was the best atmosphere we've had this year," Thomas said. "In the first period, I actually had to calm myself down because I was too excited."

The Bruins took a 3-2 lead 6:11 into the third period after Jurcina took a pass from Savard and fired a shot that beat screened Montreal goaltender Cristobal Huet inside the right post.

"It wasn't tipped or anything. It went straight down and I wasn't very happy about that one," Huet said. "It was a little breakdown and enough for them to win the game."

Stanislav Chistov put Boston in front by a pair more than a minute later on the game's prettiest goal.

Chistov broke in to the right of Huet, deked defenceman Mike Komisarek and flipped the puck over the shoulder of the Canadiens netminder.

Despite making 27 saves for Montreal, Huet couldn't hold off Boston's charge in the third. The Canadiens began the game on their heels and fell behind the Bruins early in the first.

Chara opens festivities

Boston relied on some brilliant goaltending early by Thomas before opening the scoring at 8:29.

With the Bruins controlling the play in Montreal's end, defenceman Zdeno Chara unloaded a slapshot from the point for his sixth goal of the season.

"It's always important to be successful in this league," Boston coach Dave Lewis said of goals by unlikely scorers. "You can't keep counting on the same three, four guys."

Thomas thwarted several Montreal chances prior to Boston's goal, including a terrific glove save off Sergei Samsonov while on his stomach.

Boston went up 2-0 on the power play more than four minutes later after Montreal defenceman Craig Rivet failed to clear the puck. Centre Patrice Bergeron picked off the clearing attempt with his glove, slid a backhand pass to Marco Sturm, who snapped a shot to the short side of Huet.

Bergeron and Savard both extended point streaks on Saturday against the Canadiens.

Bergeron has scored four goals and added 10 assists during an eight-game run, while Savard is on a seven-game tear, having notched 14 points (5-9) over that stretch.

The Canadiens regrouped from their early struggles to reduce Boston's lead in half at 16:06 of the first.

Komisarek directed a shot toward the Boston net that deflected off the skate of Bruins defenceman Jason York's leg and behind a surprised Thomas.

The Canadiens appeared to tie the game early in the second when Radek Bonk blew a low drive by Thomas, but referees ruled Alex Kovalev interfered with the Boston goaltender in the crease.

Undeterred, Montreal got the equalizer while short-handed at 12:08 of the second following a spectacular save by Huet that led to a 2-on-1 break.

Canadiens captain Saku Koivu feathered a soft pass to Michael Ryder, who buried his 10 goal of the season into the open side of the net. Ryders' marker also gave the Canadiens their league-leading 11th short-handed goal.

Montreal attempted a rally in the third, but could only manage seven shots.

"Those are the games that sometimes happen," Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau said. "We've had a few of those on our side, but Tim Thomas was excellent tonight. He made the save when they needed it."

With files from the Associated Press