Eric Haula, Patrice Bergeron each score two as Bruins edge Canadiens

The iconic Flower often was the one who delivered soul-crushing goals to beat the Bruins in tight games, especially in Montreal, but it was not to be for the distant sons of Toe Blake, Scotty Bowman, and Le Demon Blond.

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Now with only three games left on their regular-season schedule, the Burins remained 2 points ahead of the Caps in the wildcard race in the Eastern Conference. The Black and Gold, set to face the conference-leading Panthers Tuesday night at the Garden, still don’t know their opponent in Round 1 of the playoffs. The candidates remain the Canes, Rangers, Panthers, and possibly the Leafs.

Bergeron, who grew up in Quebec City, with Lafleur his dad’s favorite player, potted his second of the night, into an empty net, with seven seconds remaining in regulation to close out the scoring.

Bergeron also opened the night’s scoring, potting a doorstep forehander after Brad Marchand fed a blind backhander off the rear wall into the low slot. Bruins, 1-0, with 15:03 gone in the period.

For much of the night, the Canadiens looked tired and spent, perhaps their psyche drained from the pre-game ceremony to honor the iconic Lafleur, who passed away Friday at age 70 after nearly a three-year struggle with lung cancer.

Even the most grizzled Bruins fan had to be brought to the edge of tears (or beyond) by the tasteful and poignant Lafleur homage, which began at 7:04 p.m. with the Habs skating to the Bell Centre ice in total silence.

The ceremony lasted for just over 20 minutes, the crowd in the last few minutes ignoring PA pleas to quiet down. The fans remained standing, holding their illuminated iPhones like torches, and shouting “Guy! Guy! Guy”, and “Ole’, Ole’, Ole,” the familiar fan chant dating back to the Habs’ glory days when “Flower” was central to the franchise’s four consecutive Cups, 1976-’79.

During the tribute to Lafleur, fans were played a quote from Lafleur, reminding all, including himself, that hockey “isn’t a job, it’s a game.”

“That stuck with me, it made the game fun,” said Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman, who turned back 23 shots for the win. “I’ve known that, but to hear one of the greats say that, and just understand that it’s a game and we all love playing it, it hit home for me.”

The Bruins boosted their lead to 2-0 with 1:57 to go before the break on a rare penalty shot. Penalty shots are anything but ordinary, but this one was truly extraordinary.

First, the free attempt was awarded to Haula on a very marginal call, the ref ruling that Hoffman slashed the speedy center while he was barreling in from the blue line. It looked like Hoffman made a quick, clever, efficient move to knock the puck away from Haula.

Lined up at center ice for the penalty shot attempt, Haula took his initial strides toward the net and whiffed on the puck, looking like some Saturday morning hacker in the tee box at Ponkapoag. Unfazed, Haula reached back, grabbed the puck, and raced in for a short-range wrister that beat goalie Sammy Montembeault to the glove side. Bruins, 2-0.

“Honestly, I was so flustered, I didn’t know what was going on,” said Haula. “It was so loud, I didn’t know if the refs blew it [dead] or not. I just grabbed the puck and thought, ‘All right, I guess I’ll take it down.’ Thank God I scored.”

All part of what Haula called a “really incredible” night.

“I’ve never been part of a tribute like that,” he said. “Obviously, a very special player, person … to this community and the hockey world.”

It was only the fourth successful penalty shot by the Bruins against the Canadiens in the storied history of the rivalry. The previous successful strike was by Tim Taylor, April 15, 1998.

Josh Anderson, the former Columbus forward, scored the first Canadiens goal on a power play, pushing home a backhander near the left post after a shot on net from the right wing circle.

A little more than two minutes later, at 4:04, Haula connected for his second of the night, and No. 17 this season, when he raced to the net and potted a smooth cross-slot feed from Tomas Nosek.

The Bruins all but put it away with 1:51 left in the second, McAvoy connecting for his career high 10th of the season on a wrister at the top of the left wing circle. It came off a faceoff, with Bergeron pulling the draw straight back. McAvoy collected it, took aim, and nailed it in for the three-goal lead to take into the intermission.

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com.