Montreal’s Arber Xhekaj, right, checks Boston’s Hampus Lindholm during first period Thursday in Montreal. Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP

Jake DeBrusk scored 25 seconds into overtime to the lift the Boston Bruins to a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre on Thursday.

After losing the opening faceoff, Hampus Lindholm beat Mike Matheson in a puck battle deep in the Bruins’ zone and sent Brad Marchand off on a 2-on-1 with DeBrusk. The captain fed DeBrusk, who cut in form the left wing and beat Sam Montembeault on a backhander.

If the Bruins had let this one get away, it would have been a very tough loss indeed.

With the Bruins killing off a penalty at 12:06 of the third period and the score tied 1-1, Charlie McAvoy jumped high to bat out an aerial puck when he was clipped by Nick Suzuki’s stick. After a review, Suzuki was tagged with a double minor, giving the Bruins 2:58 of power play once the 4-on-4 was over.

The Bruins got nothing out of the lengthy man advantage, then had to survive a hairy final shift in regulation before it went to overtime.

In a rarity this season, the Bruins took care of business on the 3-on-3.

The Bruins started strong, had a handful of shifts on which they blitzed the Habs’ zone and took the first lead of the game. But Montreal was able to push back on occasion and, because of that, it was a 1-1 game after the opening 20 minutes.

The Bruins scored at 4:49 after a great shift in which they repeatedly kept the puck in the zone. Eventually, David Pastrnak fired a shot that Montembeault stopped but the rebound was kicked out in front. Danton Heinen, who had notched a hat trick the last time the Bruins met Montreal, missed on his first swipe but as the puck slid away from him, Heinen was able to reach behind and sling it into the open net as he was falling down. It was his 12th of the season.

The Bruins had several great chances to extend the lead, especially on a particularly dominant power play on which DeBrusk hit the post on a backhander.

But the Canadiens didn’t lay down. They pieced together a few good shifts and, on one of them, they evened the game at 14:37.

Brandon Carlo won a puck battle with Cole Caufield, but from the boards he sent a soft pass into the middle of the ice intended for Lindholm that was picked off by Suzuki. His shot was deflected but the puck went right to Juraj Slafkovsky, who passed it right back to Suzuki for the equalizer on which Linus Ullmark had no chance.

The Bruins had little by way of scoring chances in a scoreless second period after they got an early power play. The even-strength chance was a glittering one, though. Pastrnak took off on a breakaway and appeared to have Montembeault beaten but he hit the outside of the post. He then collected the loose puck and tried to bank it off of Montembeault but that failed as well.

Shortly after the Pastrnak misses, Heinen was called for a hooking penalty, the first of two in the final five minutes of the period. The Bruins killed the first and had 45 seconds to kill to start the third.