NHL: Montreal 4, Boston 1

MONTREAL, April 10 (UPI) -- Tom Kostopoulos had a goal and an assist Thursday when the Montreal Canadiens beat Boston 4-1 in the opener of their Eastern Conference series.

Kostopoulos' assist came on Bryan Smolinski's goal at 5:16 of the second period and his goal came at 7:24 of the third.

Sergei Kostitsyn and Andrei Kostitsyn scored 88 seconds apart in the first period to give the Canadiens a 2-0 lead in the game's first two minutes.

Canadiens' netminder Carey Price yielded one goal on 18 shots.

Montreal maintained its dominance against the Bruins after winning the eight meetings between the clubs in the regular season. The Canadiens outscored their Northeast Division rival 39-16 in those contests.

Boston's only goal was scored by Shane Hnidy midway through the first period.

Bruins' goaltender Tim Thomas was beaten four times on 32 shots.

Montreal carries its 1-0 lead in to Game 2 Saturday.