Canadiens 2, Bruins 1: Max Pacioretty scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period and host Montreal leapfrogged Boston to take over first place in the Atlantic Division.

Tomas Plekanic also scored as the Canadiens won their fourth straight contest and extended their points streak to nine games (8-0-1). Carey Price made 32 saves to win his sixth consecutive start.

Gregory Campbell scored the lone goal for the Bruins, who had to play most of the contest with five defensemen after Johnny Boychuk was carted off the ice when he was checked into the boards by Pacioretty in the opening period. Tuukka Rask turned aside 25 shots for Boston, which fell to 10-3-1 in its last 14 games.

The Bruins had the only goal of the opening period when Milan Lucic split the defense and slipped a backhand pass to Campbell on the left side for a wrist shot that beat a sprawling Price at 17:35. The Canadiens picked up the pace in the middle session, outshooting the Bruins 18-7 and taking the lead with a pair of goals.

Plekanec tied it at 9:16, beating Rask from a bad angle at the bottom of the right circle, before Pacioretty collected a long rebound in the slot and swept home a backhander nearly 8 1/2 minutes later. Boston pressed for the equalizer in the third period, pouring 16 shots on goal, but was unable to dent Price.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Pacioretty scored for the fourth time in four games, giving him nine goals in his last nine. ... Boychuk was injured when he was knocked into the end boards by Pacioretty, who drew a boarding penalty on the play. Boychuk was attended to for several minutes before he was immobilized and taken to a hospital, where he demonstrated movement in all his extremities. Bruins coach Claude Julien said that Boychuk was returning to the Bell Centre and would travel with the team back to Boston. ... Plekanec, who recorded his 250th career assist Wednesday night, scored his third goal in five games.