Ryder's rebound with 11 seconds left busts Bruins

BOSTON (AP) -- Claude Julien thought his Montreal Canadiens

looked sluggish, tired and average.

They were still good enough to beat the Boston Bruins.

Michael Ryder backhanded in the rebound of Alex Kovalev's shot

on the power play with 11.1 seconds remaining to give the Canadiens

a 2-1 win Wednesday night.

"I guess at the end there we got a little bit lucky, got a

bounce, and found a way to win," Julien said.

Bruins forward Tom Fitzgerald was called for hooking with 26

seconds to play to set up the Canadiens' power play.

"We've all had explained as to what is going to be called,"

Fitzgerald said. "Players were on the rules committee, so we all

have to adjust."

Jan Bulis also had a goal, and Jose Theodore made 29 saves for

Montreal.

Patrice Bergeron scored for Boston, which outshot the Canadiens

30-21 but failed to score on seven power-play opportunities,

including four in the third period. The Bruins also failed to score

on a four-minute power play in the second period.

"We didn't execute on the power play and that was the

difference," Bruins coach Mike Sullivan said.

The Bruins' best chance with the man advantage came with about

seven minutes to play when Brad Isbister misfired from close range

on Shawn McEachern's cross-ice pass. McEachern fanned on the

rebound of Brian Leetch's slap shot about midway through the

period.

"We had the opportunities to break the game open and we

didn't," Sullivan said.

The Canadiens went on top at 10:50 of the first period when

Bulis took a lead pass from Niklas Sundstrom, skated down the left

wing, fought off Bruins rookie defenseman Kevin Dallman, and

flipped the puck over Andrew Raycroft's left shoulder. Raycroft

made 19 saves.

The Bruins had a chance to tie it less than two minutes later,

but Isbister couldn't control Glen Murray's pass on a two-on-one

break.

Bergeron evened it at 17:44 when he skated down the right wing

and lifted a 30-foot shot over Theodore's shoulder.

Ryder's winner came on his only shot of the game.

"I thought he played an average game," Julien said. "But good

players find a way to make a difference, and although he had an

average game, he found a way to score the winning goal."

The anticipated rash of penalties based on the preseason

enforcement of new rules designed to cut down on clutching and

grabbing, did not occur, at least in the first two periods. Each

team had only one penalty in the first period, and two each in the

second.

"Tonight was a big difference from the preseason," Leetch

said. "Guys were letting players skate by instead of hooking

them."

The Bruins penalty-killing unit held the Canadiens without a

shot on net during a second-period power play. Montreal didn't get

its first shot on goal in the period until there were nearly 16

minutes elapsed. The Bruins outshot the Canadiens 12-3 in the

second, but couldn't score on a four-minute power play.

"Obviously, the second period was a real bad period for us,"

Julien said. "We were lucky to come out of that period still tied,

thanks to Jose's work."

The Bruins hadn't lost to the Canadiens in their previous six

regular-season meetings (3-0-3). Boston had however, lost three in

a row in the playoffs to Montreal during the 2003-04 season when

the Canadiens came back to win a seven-game series after being down

3-1 for the first time.Game notes
Former Bruins great Milt Schmidt, whose No. 15 is retired,

and who was a player, coach and general manager of the team,

dropped the ceremonial first puck. ... Former Bruins Derek

Sanderson and John "Pie" McKenzie and former Canadiens Henri

Richard and Yvon Cournoyer also participated in pregame ceremonies.

... The Bruins and Canadiens have played more than any two teams in

NHL history. Wednesday's game was the 670th between the clubs. ...

Bruins forwards Dave Scatchard (groin strain) and Alex Zhamnov

(bruised shoulder) didn't play.