Bruins strike first

Boston captain Zdeno Chara's power-play goal midway through the third period was the game-winner as the top-seeded Bruins overcame a feisty effort from the archrival Montreal Canadiens to win Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarter-final series 4-2 last night. Phil Kessel scored twice while David Krejci added a goal and an assist for the Bruins, while Tim Thomas was solid in nets with 26 saves. Christopher Higgins and Alex Kovalev scored for the Canadiens, who got 35 saves from Carey Price in a losing effort. In a repeat of last year's first round series between the storied rivals, the Canadiens and Bruins lived up to the history between the two clubs with a rivetting game full of big hits and momentum swings. The Canadiens have a 24-7 edge in their playoff encounters with the Bruins, including last year's seven-game victory, but they are heavy underdogs this year. The sellout TD Banknorth Garden crowd of 17,565 was a sea of black and gold with very few Canadiens fans in attendance. It was in stark contrast to last year's series when legions of Quebecers made the five-hour drive to Boston for Games 3 and 4 to taunt the Bruins in their own building. In a surprise move, Canadiens head coach and general manager Bob Gainey split up his top line of Saku Koivu, Alex Tanguay and Kovalev. He moved enforcer Georges Laraque on to Koivu's wing with Kovalev, while Tanguay moved on to a line with Glen Metropolit and Higgins. The move paid quick dividends as Tanguay set up Higgins for the Canadiens first goal, while Laraque had a few confrontations with Chara who was often matched up against Kovalev. With the score tied 2-2 midway through the third period, Canadiens defenceman Josh Gorges was sent to the penalty box for cross-checking P.J. Axelsson in front of the Montreal net with the puck in the neutral zone. The Bruins converted 19 seconds into the power play, with Chara wiring a Marc Savard pass past Price's stick side at 11:15 of the third. Kessel iced the win with an empty-net goal at 19:46 of the third, triggering some post-whistle scrums as both teams began to get ready for Game 2 tomorrow night. Just like the Canadiens did to them in Game 1 of last year's playoff series, the Bruins jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals 90 seconds apart. Boston opened the scoring at 13:11 when Price had a puck knocked free during a scrum by Krejci and Kessel was there to jump on it and put it in an empty net. The Bruins made it 2-0 at 14:41 after Milan Lucic beat Josh Gorges to a dump in and fed former Hab Michael Ryder, who found Krejci alone in front for a backhand goal. The Canadiens got to within a goal before the period was over when Tanguay was stoned by Thomas on a chance in front, but corralled the rebound and fed it to Higgins for a one-timer at 16:19. The Canadiens came out for the second period aggressive and spent more time in the Bruins zone. It finally paid off at 17:37 of the period, when Koivu bounced a pass over to Kovalev and he unleashed a rocket of a one-timer over Thomas' left shoulder to make it 2-2 and briefly quiet the Boston faithful. Red Wings 4, Blue Jackets 1 DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings had to wait awhile for Columbus to make a mistake in its first playoff game last night. When the Blue Jackets did, the Red Wings took full advantage and went on to a 4-1 victory. Detroit's Jonathan Ericsson was credited with a go-ahead goal with 6:39 left in the second period that Manny Malhotra redirected into his own net after trying to stop the puck with his glove. Detroit scored again less than a minute later. Chris Osgood made 20 saves for the Red Wings. Rookie Steve Mason stopped the first 21 shots he faced before giving up three goals -- two of which he was helpless on -- in a five-shot stretch. Flyers FORWARD suspended TORONTO -- Philadelphia Flyers' forward Daniel Carcillo has been suspended for one game and Flyers' coach John Stevens has been fined $10,000, the NHL said yesterday. Carcillo's suspension stems from an incident late Wednesday in Game 1 of the Flyers' Eastern Conference quarter-final series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. With seven seconds remaining in the third period and the Penguins leading 4-1, Carcillo delivered a blow to the head of Maxime Talbot directly off a faceoff.