Canadiens rally for 4-3 win over Bruins

Max Pacioretty scored the tying goal in the third period and Desharnais put Montreal ahead to stay, leading the Canadiens to a 4-3 comeback win over the Boston Bruins on Sunday in a matchup of the Eastern Conference's top teams.

Both goals came with Chara sitting in the penalty box.

"It's big," said Desharnais, who also scored in the first period. "He's a key player for them. For him to not be on the ice is good for us, and we took advantage of it."

Tomas Plekanec had the other goal for the Canadiens, who jumped two points ahead of Boston for first overall in the conference.

Last season, Montreal finished out of the playoffs — 28th in the 30-team league. This year, the Canadiens are off to a 14-4-4 start.

"We're coming from a long way," Montreal coach Michel Therrien said. "Everyone knows if we stick to our plan we've got a chance to win every game."

The longtime rivals played an up-and-down clean first period before some bad feelings surfaced late in the second. Alexei Emelin appeared to cross-check young Bruins star Tyler Seguin on the right hip, sending him to the ice in pain.

Chara then raced in, nailed Emelin and the pair squared off to the left of Montreal's net, with the Boston captain throwing most of the punches. Seguin headed down the ramp toward the dressing room, but came back to the bench a few minutes later. Chara collected an instigating penalty, fighting major and 10-minute misconduct, leaving Boston short-handed on defense for a good portion of the third.

"The guy just broke his stick cross-checking Tyler and went down," Chara said. "I was just reacting to it. He's one of our best players and I'm not going to just watch him getting crushed like that."

That's when the Canadiens made their push, grabbing the lead.

"We were able to capitalize off the loss of Chara," Therrien said. "Everyone knows he's one of the best defensemen in the league."

Pacioretty's slap shot from the point beat Tuukka Rask, who appeared to be screened, and tied it at 3-all 5:31 into the third period. Desharnais scored out of a scramble in front with 10:43 to play.

Chara's teammates felt his actions were justified.

"Z knows the right time to step up and fight for his teammates —and tonight was the right time," Bruins winger Brad Marchand said. "One of our guys that plays a lot of minutes takes a good shot."

Bruins coach Claude Julien was even more upset.