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FOXBOROUGH, Mass.

If there was any doubt that Brendan Gallagher is a key player for the Canadiens, it was erased Friday afternoon as the feisty winger returned to the lineup after missing 17 games with two broken fingers.

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Gallagher scored a goal and added an assist but, more importantly, his return allowed coach Michel Therrien to return to the lines that were so successful for Montreal earlier in the season.

“You’re always looking for chemistry,” said Therrien. “We’re back to the lines that were successful with the Plekanec line (Tomas Plekanec between Max Pacioretty and Gallagher) doing good, but also all the other lines.”

There are statistics that illustrate Gallagher’s effect on the Montreal offence. When Gallagher is in the lineup, the Canadiens have scored three or more goals in 19 of his 23 appearances.

Gallagher said he didn’t intend to change his game and that was evident in the first period when he planted himself in front of Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask. Boston defenceman Zdeno Chara, who stands a foot taller than Gallagher, responded by grabbing the Montreal player and throwing him to the ice with a move that would have earned him a 15-yard penalty in football for face-masking.