The Canadiens had plenty of motivation Saturday night at Belle Centre, playing their rival Bruins, desperately needing points in the standings, and their head coach's 10-year history with Boston.
If only that had been enough.
In his first matchup against his former team, Claude Julien and the Habs fell to the Bruins 4-3 in a shootout after an emotionally charged 60 minutes left the teams tied at 3-3.
Brad Marchand scored the game-winner for Boston when he snuck a wrist shot through Carey Price's five-hole after Price stopped 29 of 32 shots in regulation and overtime.
Julien, who won a Stanley Cup as the Bruins head coach in 2013, was fired after 56 games during the 2016-17 season while guiding the Bruins to a 26-23-6 record. The Canadiens fired Michel Therrien and hired Julien in short order, the second time the franchise brought in Julien after dismissing Therrien.
The Canadiens and Bruins both went on to make the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs, each losing in the first round.
“There’s no doubt it’s a special thing because I spent a lot of great years in (Boston) with an organization that treated me extremely well and I'm showing a lot of gratitude towards them for that," Julien said before the game Saturday. "At the same time, I have to move on and understand where I am. I’m with an organization here that’s treating me extremely well and I’m looking forward to having some success with them.
"You know there’s a rivalry that exists and that’s twice now I’ve switched sides of that rivalry so I guess I could say I’m a little used to it but it’s always special when you face your old team.”
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Entering play Saturday, Boston was in second place in the Atlantic Division, with Montreal in sixth, now eight points out of a playoff spot with five teams above them in the race in the standings.
With the win, Boston extended its points streak to 12 straight, having not lost a game un regulation since Dec. 14.