In playoff debut, Savard shows some rust

He battled his way back into lineup

MONTREAL - It wasn't just that last night was Marc Savard's first playoff game. It was his first action in nearly three weeks.

Understandably, Savard wasn't at his best.

"He's been out a couple weeks," said Bruins coach Claude Julien. "I didn't really expect him to come in tonight and take charge of the whole situation. That's not what our team is based on anyway."

Savard, who broke a bone in his back March 22 in Boston's last regular-season game at Bell Centre, skated on the third line with Peter Schaefer and Phil Kessel, and also saw power-play time with the No. 1 unit. Savard completed his first game back with 18 shifts for 14:56 of ice time, recording one shot, two takeaways, one hit, and one giveaway. Savard won 7 of 12 faceoffs and was called for hooking in the third period.

"I felt fine," Savard said. "I took short shifts a lot of times tonight. Was trying to feel better in my lungs just to get the air going again."

With Savard back, Vladimir Sobotka was the healthy scratch up front. Savard has been the No. 1 center all season, but Julien opted to keep David Krejci on the top line between Marco Sturm and Glen Murray.

"Hopefully, I can help out more here as I feel better," said Savard.

Perfect PK

After taking a quick 2-0 lead, the Canadiens could have had a commanding 3-0 advantage when Shane Hnidy was whistled for interference at 5:43 of the first period. But the Bruins killed off the first Montreal power play and four man-advantages that followed, including a two-minute five on three in the third period when Sturm (slashing) and Zdeno Chara (high-sticking) went off at 16:10.

"Our penalty kill did a great job," Savard said. "Especially late in the game."

The Canadiens, who had the best power play in the league during the regular season, went 10 for 33 on the man-advantage against the Bruins in the regular season.

"If you're not disciplined, you might as well give them the series," said Julien before the game.

Ference back in

Andrew Ference, also injured March 22, played in his first game since suffering a sprained knee. Ference, paired with Aaron Ward, had 18:35 of ice time.

Ference was out of position on Montreal's first goal, but he assisted on Boston's only score when his one-timer was tipped by Hnidy. Andrew Alberts, who played the final three games of the regular season, was the healthy scratch.

Returning to health

Canadiens defenseman Mike Komisarek, out since March 20 after suffering a hip injury against the Bruins at TD Banknorth Garden, returned last night. Komisarek skated with regular partner Andrei Markov, skating 24 shifts for 16:54 of ice time. Komisarek assisted on ex-Bruin Bryan Smolinski's second-period goal. Komisarek threw one hit and blocked four shots, including a big-time stop of a Kessel slapper in the second.

Michael Ryder (knee), sidelined for the last two regular-season games, also got back on the ice.

Captain Saku Koivu (foot) and defenseman Francis Bouillon (ankle) were out, and defenseman Ryan O'Byrne was scratched for Patrice Brisebois.

"If they want to come at us hard and hit, we have to move the puck faster," said coach Guy Carbonneau, explaining why he preferred Brisebois's puck-moving skills.

Skate scrubbed

While most of the Canadiens took a twirl yesterday at Bell Centre, Julien canceled his team's morning skate, explaining that the club had three strong days of practice. Patrice Bergeron and Manny Fernandez were the only Bruins to practice, under the watch of assistant Doug Houda and goaltending coach Bob Essensa . . . Shawn Thornton, who won a ring last year, appeared in his 16th career playoff game. During the Cup finals last season, Thornton was a healthy scratch for Game 4, but was back on the ice for Game 5 when the Ducks completed a 4-1 win over Ottawa. "I'm still waiting to find out," Thornton, with a smile, said of his Game 4 scratch. "There were about five of us who were always a game-time decision. We'd wait around until about 10 minutes before game time." . . . Carbonneau on being in Montreal during the playoffs: "Just crazy. I played in Dallas, where they had the Cowboys, Mavericks, Texas Rangers. In Boston, it's maybe the same thing with the Red Sox and Patriots. The fans care about hockey. But it's not as big as here. It's 24 hours a day, seven days a week."