Backes, Pastrnak lead Bruins past Canadiens 3-1

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BOSTON – David Backes scored the deciding goal in his first game in nearly a month, David Pastrnak added his league-leading 25th goal, and the Boston Bruins won their seventh straight game, beating the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 Sunday night.

Backes’ first goal of the season came off a feed from David Krejci through the right circle, with 9:31 remaining in the third period.

Backes was in the lineup for the first time since being injured during a scary collision with Ottawa’s Scott Sabourin on Nov. 2.

Jake DeBrusk added his sixth goal of the year on a give-and-go with Charlie Coyle two minutes later.

Tuukka Rask made 28 saves for the Bruins.

Boston extended its point streak to 11 games (8-0-3) and entered the third month of the season as the only team without a home regulation loss (11-0-4).

Joel Armia scored, and Carey Price had 31 saves for Montreal. The Canadiens extended their season-high losing streak to eight (0-5-3).