The Bruins rolled into Monday's Original Six matchup with the Montreal Canadiens, having won four in a row and 18 of their last 21 games, including a 6-0 thrashing of Philadelphia on Saturday, to secure first place in the Northeast Division. The Bs did not let that swagger interfere with their game, playing perceptive and efficient hockey to defeat the resilient Canadiens, 3-2, at the Boston Garden.

The Bruins took an early lead, 7 minutes, 47 seconds into the first period, with a one-two punch of a play. On a face-off to the left of Montreal goalie Carey Price, center Rich Peverley poked the puck through the legs of Canadiens center Petteri Nokelainen, then snapping it to leftwing Benoit Pouliot, who was already in front of the net. Price was still angled toward the face-off circle, reacting far too late as Pouliot dumped the puck into an open net.

The Canadiens immediately responded with a more aggressive pace, which paid dividends for them a mere 1 minute, 13 seconds later. Canadiens left wing Mike Cammalleri grabbed a rebound off of a shot from center Tomas Plekanec. Plekanec curled around the net, and seeing an opportunity, cut in front of the net to receive a perfectly timed pass across the crease from Cammalleri. Thomas' body was angled to the left side, as Plekanec then tapped the puck into the empty right side of the net.

The goal broke the Bruins' shutout steak at 77:31, dating back to a December 14th win at Ottawa.

Thomas explained his goaltending strategy during the play.

"There were a few flurries where I'm like man I just wish I could hold on to the rebounds but they were kind of funky plays all the time," he said. "And a lot of times I just end up having to put the rebounds right out in front of me so I can get the next shot instead of putting it somewhere that I don't know who's in that spot."

Boston jumped ahead in the match, 2:42 into the 2nd period, due to a sloppy play by Montreal. Canadiens defenseman P. K. Subban made a slow pass in his own zone, which was then intercepted by defenseman Andrew Ference. Ference zipped the puck to center David Krejci, who missed the puck with his stick, allowing it to ricochet off of his skate and past Price.

Even with the lead, the Bruins continued to attack the Canadiens defense. With 5:46 remaining in the game, left wing Brad Marchand came into a one-on-one with Price, faked to his left, forcing Price to lunge for the puck. Exploiting the opening on his right side, he quickly backhanded the puck in to seal the match at a 3-1 lead.

Montreal would not go down that easily however, taking advantage of a miscue on Boston's end of the rink. Right wing Erik Cole would tip in the puck past the oustretched mitt of Thomas to cut the lead to one with 1:14 remaining. While the Canadiens initiated a furious rally in the last minute of the match, it would prove to be futile, losing 3-2 to the Bruins.

Thomas provided a whimsical answer in response to the Bruins' late game success this season.

"We get stronger as the game goes on. Stronger till dawn, like Lancelot."

The Bruins look to build upon their momentum even further, squaring off against the Florida Panthers this Friday at home at 7 p.m.