BOSTON (AP) — Michael Cammalleri and Mathieu Darche scored in the first 2:20 of the game, and Carey Price stopped 34 shots Saturday night to lead Montreal to a 3-1 victory over the Boston Bruins and give the Canadiens a 2-0 lead in the first-round playoff series.

A No. 3 seed in the East after winning the Northeast Division, the Bruins coughed up home-ice advantage and need a victory in Montreal on Monday or Thursday just to bring the series back to Boston for a fifth game.

Additional Photos

Boston Bruins fans walk up the stairs as Montreal's Yannick Weber, bottom right, is congratulated by teammates Tom Pyatt and Jaroslav Spacek (6) after scoring against the Bruins during the second period of the Canadiens 3-1 win in Game 2 of their first-round playoffs series Saturday in Boston. AP

Boston has never, in 26 tries, won a playoff series after losing the first two games.

Tim Thomas made 23 saves as the Bruins played without captain Zdeno Chara, who was scratched minutes before the opening faceoff because of dehydration.

Patrice Bergeron’s second-period goal cut the deficit to 2-1 and snapped a postseason scoreless streak that dated to the team’s unprecedented collapse in last year’s Eastern Conference semifinals. Still, the loss was Boston’s sixth in a row in the playoffs.

But Yannick Weber made it 3-1 with 2:29 left in the second, and the Bruins were booed off the ice by their home fans after the period, just as they were in the first. In the third, the “Fire Julien!” chants began in the upper deck as coach Claude Julien stood behind the bench arms crossed.

The Bruins pulled Thomas for an extra skater, but did not get a shot off in the final minute.

Already down in the best-of-seven series after losing the opener 2-0 on Thursday night, the Bruins lost their captain and best defenseman when Chara was scratched after being hospitalized overnight with dehydration.

His absence was obvious.

Cammalleri scored just 43 seconds into the game when he slammed home the rebound of James Wisniewski’s shot after defenseman Johnny Boychuk turned the puck over right outside the blue line. Just 97 seconds later, 6 seconds into a power play, Darche tipped in a shot after a weak clearing attempt by Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference.

It was Darche’s first career playoff goal.

The Bruins finally scored with 12:22 left in the second period when Mark Recchi brought it over the blue line and crossed it over to Brad Marchand. He sent it into the middle and Bergeron redirected it behind Price, who had come out to cut down the angle.

That was Boston’s first playoff goal since Milan Lucic scored in the first period to give the Bruins a 3-0 lead in Game 7 against Philadelphia of last year’s Eastern Conference semifinals — a span of 1:33:28. The Bruins blew a 3-0 lead in games and a 3-0 lead in goals in the final game for one of the worst collapses in playoff history, in any sport.

But Montreal restored the two-goal lead with 2:29 left in the second when Lars Eller took a shot from the top of the right circle and Thomas knocked the rebound right to an uncovered Hamrlik.

NOTES: April 16 is the anniversary of Montreal’s victories over Boston to win both the 1953 and ’57 Stanley Cup titles. … Canadiens D Hal Gill played in his 100th career playoff game. The first 36 were with the Bruins. He is still looking for his first goal. … Eller recorded his first playoff point. … The Bruins will head to Lake Placid, N.Y., after Game 3 in Montreal on Monday to practice on Tuesday and Wednesday for Thursday night’s Game 4.