The Montreal Canadiens jumped out to a 3-0 lead and never looked back, skating to a 4-2 victory over the Boston Bruins before a crowd of 14,977 at the TD Banknorth Garden on Thursday night.

Christopher Higgins opened the scoring for Montreal and assisted on goals by rookie Kyle Chipchura and Mathieu Dandenault.

Mathieu Dandenault, middle, exults in scoring in a 4-2 Canadiens triumph.
(Winslow Townson/Associated Press)

Tomas Plekanec had the other goal as the Canadiens (14-10-4) halted a three-game skid.

Rookie goaltender Carey Price impressed with 24 saves on 26 shots, including 11 in the second period.

"I think we played a pretty good game," he said. "But we might have let it slide a little in the second."

Montreal is 3-5-1 in its last nine outings, but 4-0 versus Boston this season.

"I cannot explain it," Higgins said. "I don't know why we do so well against them.

"It was huge. We needed to get back on the winning side.

"We were down a little bit. The city and the fans were a little down on us."

"Maybe we should play more games against them," Canadiens head coach Guy Carbonneau suggested. "We still have four more games against them and I'm sure they will be ready."

Phil Kessel and P.J. Axelsson had goals in a losing cause for the Bruins (14-10-3), who were playing their third game in four nights.

"It's hard to bounce back from 3-0 down," Bruins rookie netminder Tuuka Rask said. "We weren't ready enough to play the game.

"But you cannot hide behind it being the third game in four nights."

"You cannot complain about the schedule," Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said. "We are a better team than that."

Alex Auld, acquired by Boston earlier in the day, served as backup to Rask, who was peppered with 30 shots.

Auld was traded to the Bruins by the Phoenix Coyotes for forward Nate DiCasmirro and a fifth-round draft pick.

With files from the Canadian Press