MONTREAL -- Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask continues to have his difficulties against the Montreal Canadiens.

The reigning Vezina Trophy winner allowed five goals on 23 shots as the Canadiens posted a 6-4 victory Thursday night at Bell Centre. It was the rivals' first regular-season matchup since Montreal ousted the Bruins in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs last May.

In 18 career regular-season games, Rask is 3-11-3 against the Canadiens.

After the Bruins defeated the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in a shootout Wednesday night at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, it was a quick turnaround for Rask and the Bruins to face their storied rival in Montreal's home opener.

The Canadiens' Brendan Gallagher scored a pair of goals off Rask, while Montreal goaltender Carey Price finished with 25 saves.

The Bruins received goals from Zdeno Chara, Carl Soderberg, Loui Eriksson and Simon Gagne. Rask finished with 18 saves before he was pulled at 7:17 of the third period after Montreal scored its fifth goal of the game.

The Bruins gained a 1-0 lead when Chara scored a power-play goal at 9:03 of the first period. Boston controlled the puck in the offensive zone when David Krejci took a slap shot from the point. Chara was camped out in front of Price and redirected the puck past the Montreal goaltender.

Montreal quickly responded and knotted the game at 1-1 at 11:33 of the first. With Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg in the penalty box for holding the stick, the Canadiens' David Desharnais collected the puck in the neutral zone, split defenders Adam McQuaid and Chara and broke in on Rask, who made the initial save on Desharnais. But the Canadiens' Max Pacioretty was credited with the goal, as the rebound redirected off McQuaid and then Pacioretty's skate to beat Rask.

The second period seems to always be a problem for the Bruins in this building, but Boston went back and forth with Montreal on Thursday.

After Gallagher gave the Canadiens a 2-1 lead at 7:43 of the second, Bruins quickly responded when Soderberg scored less than a minute later to tie the game at 2-2 at 8:34. Boston regained its momentum and took a 3-2 lead when Torey Krug showed patience with the puck and waited for the shot. When he unloaded, the puck ricocheted off a defender's skate and beat Price at 11:31.

With the second period winding down, Montreal kept the pressure on and scored two late goals for a 4-3 advantage. First, Jiri Sekac notched his first NHL goal when he shoveled in a loose puck during a scramble in front of Rask at 18:11 to tie the game. Again, Montreal caught the Bruins flat-footed in the waning seconds of the period when Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau scored at 19:36 to give the Canadiens the one-goal lead.

After Chara was outmuscled in front of the net by Gallagher, it resulted in his second goal of the game, at 7:17 of the third period, to give Montreal a 5-3 lead. That was the end of the night for Rask as backup Niklas Svedberg came on in relief.

The Bruins kept chipping away as Gagne scored with 5:49 remaining in regulation to cut Boston's deficit to one goal. It was his first goal as a Bruin.

In the closing seconds, and with Svedberg off, the Canadiens added an empty-netter on the power play for a 6-4 win.

OBSTRUCTION: At different points during the game, a green laser light could be seen around Rask, and a couple of other times during different faceoffs. The Canadiens do have state-of-the-art laser equipment for their always impressive pregame presentations. Since it was opening night, first thought was maybe there was a light malfunction, but it could be seen shining on different spots on the ice.

DEBUT: After missing training camp, the preseason exhibition schedule and the first five games of the regular season, veteran Bruins forward Gregory Campbell returned to the lineup and centered the fourth line, alongside Daniel Paille and Simon Gagne. Campbell had been sidelined with a mid-core injury.

SCRATCHES: With Campbell back in the lineup, Ryan Spooner was a healthy scratch. Joining Spooner on press level was forward Matt Fraser and defenseman Matt Bartkowski.

UP NEXT: For the second time already this season, the Bruins will have three games in four nights when they travel to Buffalo to face the Sabres on Saturday.