Crank up the duck boats and spark the fireworks, the Bruins have won a hockey game.

Marco Sturm had two goals, Adam McQuaid scored his first NHL goal and Tuukka Rask made 36 saves as the Bruins ended a 10-game losing streak with a 3-0 win in Montreal Sunday.

Patrice Bergeron added two assists for the Bruins, who won for the first time since taking a 2-1 shootout win in San Jose on Jan. 14.

After three weeks of futility, it was all good Sunday. 

With McQuaid and Sturm leading the way, the Bruins grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first period. Instead of the recent late-game meltdowns, this time the B’s not only protected the lead, they added to it. When Sturm netted his second goal with 10 minutes to play, giving the Bruins a previously elusive three-goal advantage, the losing streak was history.

“That’s what we needed to take the wind out of their sails,” coach Claude Julien told reporters after the game. “Every team we have been playing lately knows we have had two-goal leads slip away.”

But not this time.

Rask made 11 saves in the third to preserve the lead and notch his third shutout of the season.

Even without winning a game for three weeks, the Bruins now find themselves tied for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. If they can build on Sunday’s win during road games in Buffalo (Tuesday), Tampa (Thursday) and against Florida (Saturday), the team actually could hit the Olympic break with the worst behind them.

Here are three things that were a big part of the Bruins' return to winning form:

A WELL-MIXED, AND SOLID, DEFENSE

Things were looking better for the Bruins even before the puck was dropped as veteran defenseman Andrew Ference was back in the lineup for the first time since suffering a groin injury at Ottawa on Jan. 5.

The B’s had gone just 1-9-3 with Ference out, and they suddenly win when he returns. That has to be more than coincidence.

On Sunday, Ference was paired with the rookie McQuaid, and that combination had an immediate impact. Late in the opening period Marc Savard sent a bank pass off the sideboards from behind the net to McQuaid at the right point. McQuaid teed up a shot the deflected off the skate of Canadiens center Ryan White and past Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak with 2:28 to play in the first.

It was the first NHL goal for McQuaid and it got the B’s rolling. Sturm smacked in a rebound of a shot by Zdeno Chara making it 2-0 with just four seconds left in the first.

Ference and McQuaid each finished the night with a plus-one rating. Ference logged just over 15 minutes of ice time in his return, McQuaid had nearly 15 minutes, up from his usual 10-minute per game average.

Things were not all good along the backline however. Julien indicated before the game the defenseman Johnny Boychuk will be out though the Olympic break with a fractured orbital bone.  He will not need surgery.

Boychuk was hit in the side of the face by the puck during the first period in Saturday’s 3-2 shootout loss to Vancouver. 

Center David Krejci was also hurt in the first period Sunday and did not return after taking just three shifts. “I can’t tell you any more right now,” said Julien. “He wasn’t able to finish the game, we’re hopeful he’ll be in on Tuesday.”

GETTING PHYSICAL

The Bruins set up a physical tone early in the contest as Blake Wheeler tangled with Montreal lug nut Ryan O’Byrne 12 minutes after the opening faceoff. Wheeler is not generally a scrapper, so his willingness to fight O’Byrne sent a nice message regarding the price the Bruins were willing to pay to end their losing streak.

In the second period, Matt Hunwick dropped Canadiens forward Brian Gionta with a powerful shoulder check, showing more of the B’s resolve.

The Bruins ultimately matched Montreal with 17 hits, Milan Lucic led the way for Boston with a game-high five hits.

RASK TO THE RESCUE

Rask made his third consecutive start for the first time since jumping in to play six in a row while Thomas was injured Nov. 16-27.  He was steady and well positioned all night.

The rookie’s best effort may have been a breakaway save against Tomas Plekanec in the second period as the Bruins looked to avoid their recent failure to hold leads. Montreal outshot Boston 15-3 in the period but could not solve Rask.

“They were getting a lot of chances, without Tuukka it could have been a 2-2 game going into the third period,” Wheeler told reporters after the game. “We kind of had a reality check between periods and knew that he had saved us a bit there. So we wanted to make it easy on him in third by getting pucks deep [in the Montreal zone] and playing smart.”