Bruins hold off Canadiens in Montreal after tribute in memory of Guy Lafleur

MONTREAL — Erik Haula and Patrice Bergeron each scored twice to lead the Boston Bruins past Montreal 5-3 Sunday night as the Canadiens paid tribute to the late Guy Lafleur.

The Canadiens celebrated the Hall of Famer, who died Friday at age 70, with a ceremony before the game.

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A video of Lafleur’s goals and of him lifting the Stanley Cup played at the Bell Centre before fans gave him a standing ovation that lasted more than 10 minutes. Canadiens players saluted Lafleur’s retired No. 10 following the final buzzer.

On the boards, the usual ads were replaced by a simple tribute to Lafleur — listing his name, his number, his signature and the years of life: 1951 to 2022.

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Bergeron also had an assist. Charlie McAvoy scored the eventual winner. Jeremy Swayman made 23 saves for the win.

Josh Anderson, Mike Hoffman and Nick Suzuki scored for Montreal. Jeff Petry had two assists and Samuel Montembeault made 37 saves.

Bergeron opened the scoring for Boston by tapping a loose puck into an open net. He passed Ray Bourque and moved into fourth place in career goals in Bruins history.

The Bruins were awarded a penalty shot at 18:03 of the first period when Mike Hoffman slashed Erik Haula. The winger over-skated the puck, but managed to beat Montembeault.

The Canadiens scored their first goal of the game at 1:51 of the second period on the power play. Anderson grabbed a loose puck in the slot and backhanded his 19th goal of the season.

Boston regained its two-goal lead when Tomas Nosek found Haula on the rush for his second score of the game.

McAvoy got Boston up by three just before the second intermission with a shot from the point while both teams were playing four-on-four.

Montreal rallied with two goals in the third period. Hoffman cut Montreal’s deficit to two goals on the power play with a one-timer slap shot from the point.

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Suzuki, left alone in the slot, cut the Canadiens’ deficit to a goal at 7:19.

Bergeron sealed Boston’s win with an empty-netter with 7 seconds to go in the game.