News » While Ottawa will head home

BOSTON (AP) — Carey Price knew he had a lot of help in front of him and was more than willing to credit them.Price stopped 33 shots for his first shutout of the season Mika Zibanejad Jersey , collecting his 290th career win with Montreal to move into second place in team history in the Canadiens’ 3-0 win over the Boston Bruins on Saturday night.“Shutouts should be a team stat, really,” he said. “Everybody did an excellent job on defense tonight.”Price moved ahead of Hall of Famer Patrick Roy and is now only behind Jacques Plante — another Hall of Famer — who collected 314 victories with the Canadiens.Brendan Gallagher and Max Domi scored 1:21 apart midway into the first period and Price took over from there.“We did what we had to do in the third period to protect the lead and get the win,” said Canadiens coach Claude Julien, who coached Boston’s 2011 Stanley Cup-winning team.The Canadiens snapped a six-game losing streak against the Bruins, with the last victory coming at home on November 8, 2016. It was Price’s 41st career shutout.“It’s always nice to get that Womens Pavel Buchnevich Jersey ,” he said of the shutout. “A little bit of icing on the cake.”The Bruins lost for the first time at home this season after winning their first four – all in regulation. They were the last NHL team to lose at home. Tuukka Rask made 20 saves.Gallagher gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead 9:18 into the game when he beat Rask on a tough-angle shot. The winger fired a wrister from the right circle that slipped into the net between Rask’s left arm and the post.During a delayed penalty, Domi’s hustle led to his goal that made it 2-0 at 10:39. Artturi Lehkonen was hooked breaking in alone and the puck slid behind the net where it collected it and sent it out front. Domi charged in, got the puck and shifted Rask out of position before firing it into the net under the cross bar.The game lacked any real intensity in the first meeting of the season between the longtime rivals; mainly because Montreal dominated defensively, limiting Boston’s chances with tight defense.“There’s a lot of things that we didn’t do,” Boston’s Patrice Bergeron said. “Obviously, he’s a great goalie, but I don’t think his job was very hard tonight.”The Bruins pulled Rask with just under three minutes to play for an extra skater Vladislav Namestnikov Jersey , and even that didn’t get them any good scoring chances before Jordie Benn banked home any empty-netter with 29 seconds left.Boston’s Ryan Donato had a goal waved off early in the second period after a coach’s challenge. The play was ruled offside after a replay review.Boston’s lack of offensive punch in the opening two periods did very little to excite the sold-out crowd. Even a video showing Red Sox highlights only brought loud cheers for a few seconds.“They have a lot of smaller forwards who are able to get in on the forecheck and force teams to make plays they don’t want to,” Boston defenseman Matt Grzelcyk said. “They did that to us pretty well tonight.”Montreal’s defense did a good job of giving up most of the shots from far outside where Price was able to handle them easily. The Bruins’ best bid came in the closing seconds of second period when Price made a splendid glove save on Joakim Nordtsrom’s wrist shot.NOTES: Domi extended his point streak to six games (five goals, three assists). … Bruins D Charlie McAvoy and F David Backes each missed their fourth straight game with what the team called an upper body injury. … Price entered with a solid regular season record in his career against Boston: 24-11-5 with a 2.42 goals-against average. … It was the Bruins’ 390h straight sellout at TD Garden.UP NEXTCanadiens: Host the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.Bruins: At the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. PITTSBURGH (AP) The Pittsburgh Penguins can admit it now. The regular season is kind of a drag.Being the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions creates a target on your back that’s impossible to shake. An NHL-high 19 back-to-backs left them spent. A sluggish first half forced them to focus.No matter. The Penguins survived. And now they’re heading to the playoffs with momentum and home-ice advantage in the opening round. A legitimate shot at a Stanley Cup three-peat awaits.Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel banked in goals off Craig Anderson minutes apart in the second period, Casey DeSmith stopped 34 shots and the Penguins beat the Ottawa Senators 4-0 on Friday night to clinch second place in the Metropolitan Division. Pittsburgh will begin its quest to become the first team in 35 years to win three consecutive Cups at home next week against Columbus, New Jersey or Philadelphia.”I think down the stretch we had to play in some big games,” said Crosby, who played in all 82 games for the first time in his career. ”I think that mentality and things like that prepare you for the playoffs. I think we did a good job Bobby Ryan Jersey , won some close games and got some important points.”Phil Kessel got his 34th goal and Patric Hornqvist pushed his career-high to 29 when he beat Anderson late in the third period for the Penguins, who reached the 100-point plateau for the third straight year and ninth time in 11 seasons.Not bad for a team that found itself in 10th place in the Eastern Conference in early January.”This has been a challenging year for us in a lot of ways,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. ”What I love about this group is when the stakes get high, we play at our best.”Anderson finished with 19 saves but was beaten twice from behind the goal line in the second period as the Senators lost for the ninth time in 11 games.Crosby was standing just off the right post when he fired a shot that smacked off Anderson’s left pad and into the net 1:25 into the second period. The move is becoming a signature for the two-time MVP.”Unfortunate, but we’ve seen him do that before,” Ottawa defenseman Cody Ceci said. ”He’s a skilled player and can make that play from behind the net.”Guentzel scored from nearly the same spot just over six minutes later, flicking a rebound off the end boards that hit Anderson’s left leg and skittered in for his 22nd of the season.That was more than enough for DeSmith http://www.officialsenators.com/authentic-adidas-chris-wideman-jersey , given the start a night after top goaltender Matt Murray played in a draining overtime victory over the Blue Jackets. DeSmith was sharp throughout while picking up his first career shutout, and by the time Kessel took a slick feed from Riley Sheahan and fired it into the open net 6:55 into the third the Penguins could turn their attention to the postseason.”If we can play that kind of defense in the playoffs, we’ll win a lot of games,” DeSmith said. ”Hopefully it carries over.”Ottawa and Pittsburgh met in the Eastern Conference finals 10 months ago, with the Penguins winning on an overtime goal in Game 7 before going on to beat Nashville for the franchise’s fifth Cup. The Senators hoped it would be a springboard to becoming perennial contenders. Instead they will miss the postseason for the third time in five years.””It’s tough right now with the guys we’re missing, but it just allows other guys to step up and fill in,” Ceci said. ”It’s a great opportunity for them.”While Ottawa will head home for the spring and summer this weekend Craig Anderson Jersey , the Penguins will take aim at history now that the long six-month slog of the regular season is behind them.”We’re looking forward to the fun part of the season,” defenseman Justin Schultz said. ”We’re ready to make another run at it.”NOTES: Both the Senators and Penguins wore a butterfly decal with the initials ”JP” on the back of their helmets to honor an Ottawa-area teen and longtime Senators fan who died this week due to a rare and debilitating skin condition. Jonathan Pitre, 17, was nicknamed ””Butterfly Boy” and developed a close relationship with the team after sharing his battle with epidermolysis bullosa. … Kessel played in all 82 games this season and has played in 692 consecutive games, the third-longest active ironman streak in the league. … The victory was head coach Mike Sullivan’s 200th in the NHL. … The Penguins finished the regular season 68 for 260 on the power play (26.2 percent). The percentage was the best in franchise history, passing the 26.0 percent mark set in 1995-96.UP NEXTSenators: Finish up the season in Boston on Saturday.Penguins: The first round of the playoffs next week. Pittsburgh has won at least one playoff series in four of the last five seasons.—