It was about time the Bruins got a few breaks.

A couple of lucky bounces led to two first-period goals, giving the visiting Boston Bruins a 3-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday afternoon at the Bell Centre.

It also doesn't hurt when your goalie puts on a 36-save shutout performance the way Boston's Tuuka Rask did, earning the team's first win since Jan. 14.

"With what we've been going through the last little while, we were really hoping for a break to come our way," Bruins coach Claude Julien said.

"It's true, we had some luck tonight and that's what got us the win our whole team was looking for. After 10 losses, it was something we were hoping to see soon."

With the victory, the Bruins (24-22-11) avoided tying a franchise record of 11 straight losses.

Adam McQuaid was credited with his first career NHL goal at 17:32 of the first period when his shot from the blue-line was accidentally tipped in by Montreal's Ryan White. Boston's Marco Sturm made it 2-0 with just four seconds left in the first.

Sturm added another goal at 9:49 of the third.

Special moment for Bruins' rookie

Immediately after McQuaid's goal, teammate Marc Savard, who assisted on the marker, grabbed the puck out of the Montreal net and handed it to the rookie defenceman.

"It was a dream come true," McQuaid, a native of Charlottetown, said. "Everyone likes to have memorabilia to look back and show your kids and grandkids.

"To be able to contribute to the win and turn things around after a tough stretch feels good."

McQuaid's father told CBC Sports that he received about 15 phone calls in the family's home in P.E.I. after his son scored his first goal.

Habs came out flat

Montreal's "Bulldog" line — a trio of players recently called up from the club's AHL affiliate in Hamilton — had a poor outing after a strong performance in Saturday's win over Pittsburgh.

White, Brock Trotter and David Desharnais were all on the ice during the Bruins' first goal, and saw limited ice time as the game progressed.

"You know we didn't have a great start," White said. "We need to do a bit better."

Habs coach Jacques Martin was especially upset with his team's early play.

"What's disappointing is the way we came out," he said. "We lost the game in the first period."

"If we'd played in the first the way we played in the second and third, we still might have lost the game but at least we would have given it our best. Certain individuals needed to give us more."

Rask was solid in goal, although the Habs didn't force him to make many difficult saves. However, during a few furious stretches in the third, he was always in position to make key stops.

"It's always nice to have a shutout, but first and foremost it's nice to have a win," Rask said. "They had some chances, but overall I think we kept them to the outside and I saw pretty much every puck. That always helps."

Jaroslav Halak, starting in back-to-back games, made 24 saves for the Canadiens (28-26-6) in the losing cause.

The win came at a price for the Bruins, who lost centre David Krejci to an undisclosed injury in the first period.