David Pastrnak and Ryan Spooner each scored an early goal, Tuukka Rask stopped 21 shots and the Bruins beat Montreal 4-1 Wednesday night in Canadiens coach Claude Julien’s return to Boston.
The surging Bruins have earned at least a point in 14 straight games (10-0-4), their longest stretch since going 15-0-1 in March 2014.
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Brad Marchand added a power-play goal in the third period, David Krejci had an empty-netter and Patrice Bergeron had two assists for Boston, which posted its second win over the Canadiens in five days.
The teams meet again in Montreal on Saturday night.
Jakub Jerabek scored his first NHL goal for Montreal, and Carey Price made 28 saves.
Julien, who coached Boston’s Stanley Cup-winning team in 2011, was fired last Feb. 7 in his 10th season.
He was replaced by assistant and current Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy, who opted for more up-tempo, charge-into-the-zone play from his defencemen as opposed to Julien’s mostly defensive-minded style.
Rask extended his career-best point streak to 15 games (13-0-2), including a 4-3 shootout win at Montreal last Saturday.
The Habs are in Washington D.C. to face the Capitals Friday night, puck-drop is 7:38 p.m.
— with files from Justin Bulman