by By STEVE CONROY , The Boston Herald

Not since February 1929 had they been shut out in three straight games. But, more than 80 years later, they were perilously close to repeating history.

However, after nearly 60 minutes against the brick house that was Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price, the B's finally snuck one in the net.

And it was little surprise that it was Patrice Bergeron who broke the scoreless streak at 192 minutes, 6 seconds.

Bergeron was clearly the best Bruin in the 2-1 shootout loss. He had seven of the team's 43 shots and nearly broke the scoreless string at 17:35 of the second period only to have his goal overturned after a video review showed Marco Sturm had lifted the net off its moorings.

As deflating as that could have been, Bergeron said it actually helped the B's.

``It kind of FELT like we scored a goal for a little bit,'' he said with a grin. ``It got our spirits up for a couple of minutes, and we had to keep battling.''

And they battled right to the end. With his team down 1-0 with less than a minute left in regulation, coach Claude Julien pulled goalie Tim Thomas for the extra attacker, and the B's got an offensive-zone faceoff. Bergeron won the draw over to Mark Recchi, who got the puck to Derek Morris at the left point. Morris fired a shot into a crowd of legs, Bergeron dug the puck away from a Habs defenseman and lifted it over Price for the goal, his fifth.

``I guess it was a sense of relief. It was a good feeling,'' Bergeron said.

``But when that goal got disallowed there, I knew we were pretty close. I knew somehow it was going to go in because the chances were there. And it finally did.''

Although the B's theme seemed to be ``no more moral victories,'' Bergeron felt there was something to build off heading into tomorrow's battle against goalie Ryan Miller (league-leading save percentage of .941) and the Sabres.

``The resilience. We never stopped going to the net and creating turnovers to get pucks to the point,'' Bergeron said. ``I thought traffic was there in front. The puck was bouncing, it was getting deflected and getting blocked, but I think sometimes (Price) was having a hard time seeing pucks. The puck was bouncing their way and he wasn't seeing all of the shots.''

And if you're looking for a bright spot to what thus far has been a disappointing season for the B's, look no further than Bergeron.

``I thought he had a great game, and if anything, he deserved a star,'' Julien said. ``I've said it before, but he's had a great start to the season. I just wish more guys would jump on his back and follow suit.''

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