Rask helps Bruins hold off Lightning

BOSTON » Tuukka Rask heard the question about personally needing to string together some wins and didn’t hesitate to answer.

“I need them. I need them,” he said, smiling, after the Boston Bruins hung on for a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night.

Rask made 19 saves to snap his four-game losing streak, providing a solid effort with coach Bruce Cassidy facing some fans’ desire to play backup Anton Khudobin more.

“We need both goaltenders to be good for us to excel as a team,” Cassidy said. “Tuukka needs his reps as well. He’s a good goalie. He made those big saves and we got him that extra goal.”

Charlie McAvoy and Riley Nash scored first-period goals as the Bruins totally controlled the opening 20 minutes and into the second.

“You’re watching the shot clock and you try not to — it was like 30-6 or something,” Rask said. “You knew they were going to come.” CANADIENS 2, SENATORS 1 » Carey Price made 27 saves for his third win in three starts since he missed 10 games with a lower body injury, helping Montreal beat slumping Ottawa.

The star goaltender, who began the season 3-7-1 with a 3.77 goals-against average, is 3-0-0 and has allowed only two goals on 102 shots since he returned last week.

Jonathan Drouin scored on his first NHL penalty shot and Phillip Danault also had a goal for Montreal, which ended a three-game homestand.

Mark Stone scored his 14th goal for Ottawa, which has lost seven straight games.