For the Boston Bruins, a shootout loss was an improvement over a shutout loss.

Patrice Bergeron's goal with 52 seconds left in regulation helped the Bruins avoid a historic third straight shutout, but Michael Cammalleri scored in the shootout to give the visiting Montreal Canadiens a 2-1 victory over Boston last night.

"We scored," Bruins forward Blake Wheeler said. "Obviously, that's a positive we can take out of the game."

Boston had not scored in 192 minutes, 6 seconds, dating to Vladimir Sobotka's goal at 7:02 of the third period against Edmonton on Saturday. The Bruins had not been shut out in three straight games since Eddie Shore and the 1928-29 squad - which went on to earn Boston's first Stanley Cup title - scored just once over five games from Feb. 2-14, 1929.

The Bruins were less than a minute away from matching the ignominious feat when Bergeron, with goalie Tim Thomas pulled for an extra attacker, stuffed the rebound of Zdeno Chara's shot past Carey Price.

"At least it's out of our heads now," Bergeron said. "It's one step forward to get that goal and get that point. But one point is not good enough."

In the 700th game between the archrivals, Thomas made 25 saves, giving up only Glen Metropolit's first-period goal and Cammalleri's in the shootout. The Bruins earned a point against the Canadiens for the eighth straight game, and Montreal has not won in Boston in regulation since the end of the 2007-08 season.

Price stopped 42 Boston shots for his first win in more than a month, but he failed to earn his first shutout in more than a year.

"I hadn't won in six games, and that was not the time to get upset," Price said. "I had to refocus in a hurry because if I let it slip, then I lose another game."

In Bruins news, forward David Krejci will stay away from the team for the next 3 to 5 days while quarantined with the swine flu.

In other games:

* At Atlanta, Raffi Torres scored two uncontested second-period goals and the Columbus Blue Jackets held off the Thrashers, 4-3.

* At Detroit, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg scored in the shootout to lift the Red Wings to a 2-1 win over San Jose, snapping the Sharks' six-game winning streak. Logan Couture scored his first NHL goal for San Jose. Evgeni Nabokov stopped 35 shots.

In Sharks news, defenseman Rob Blake was placed on injured reserve with an undisclosed upper body injury.

* At Ottawa, Jason Spezza scored a power-play goal 4:17 into overtime to give the Senators a 3-2 victory over Tampa Bay.

* At St. Paul, Minn., tough guy Darcy Hordichuk and newly signed Matt Pettinger each scored their first goals of the season to lead the shorthanded Vancouver Canucks to a 5-2 victory over the Wild. Mason Raymond and Henrik Sedin also scored for the Canucks, who have won three in a row despite missing seven players with injuries. Canucks defenseman Shane O'Brien was serving a one-game suspension and is eligible to return tonight.

* At St. Louis, Dion Phaneuf's goal 2:50 into overtime gave the Calgary Flames a 2-1 victory over the Blues.

* At Glendale, Ariz., Peter Mueller scored his first goal of the season and Martin Hanzal added a goal and an assist as the Phoenix Coyotes beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-1. Scottie Upshall also scored, and Ilya Bryzgalov made 31 saves for the Coyotes.

* At Edmonton, Ales Kotalik had a goal and two assists, and the New York Rangers halted a four-game road losing streak with a 4-2 win over the Oilers.

* At Anaheim, Teemu Selanne scored two goals and Jonas Hiller made 40 saves at the Ducks blanked Nashville, 4-0.