FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Regardless of the venue, the Montreal Canadiens just don't lose in the Boston area.

The Canadiens, who have won seven straight games at TD Garden, took the streak outside and dominated the Bruins 5-1 in the Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots on Friday. It was just the third victory for Montreal in its last 13 games.

Left winger Paul Byron scored twice, right winger Brendan Gallagher, back after missing 17 games with two broken fingers on his left hand, and Max Pacioretty, his left winger, both scored one goal and set up the other and Tomas Plekanec, the center on the line, assisted on both goals as the Canadiens won their eighth straight game in and around Boston.

With a crowd of 67,246 looking on and a game time temperature of 40.6 under cloudy skies with some wind, rookie goaltender Mike Condon, who hails from nearby Holliston, Mass., stopped 28 shots for the win. He lost a shutout on a tip-in by left winger Matt Beleskey 3:56 into the third period, costing him the chance to blank the Bruins in a stadium where the Patriots have never been shut out in 128 games.

Center David Desharnais scored the first goal for the Canadiens (22-15-3) 1:14 into the game.

It was the third time in recent games that the Bruins, losers of four of their last five and playing without center David Krejci (injured), left winger Brad Marchand (suspended) and right winger David Pastrnak (continuing rehab at the World Junior Championships) had a chance to move into first place in the Atlantic Division.

Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask made 25 saves and kept his sluggish team in the game well into the second period, but fell to 4-15-3 lifetime against the Canadiens in the regular season.

Montreal right winger Dale Wiese, who assisted on the first goal of the game, left the game with an upper-body injury.

The Canadiens scored early, the goal coming after a faceoff and then an ensuing scramble, Desharnais scoring his first goal and third point in 18 games.

With the Bruins (20-13-4) going 14:50 between shots, Montreal, which had 27 shot attempts to the Bruins' four in the first period, maintained control and took a 2-0 lead two minutes into the second. Rask kicked out a deflection by center Brian Flynn right into the slot and Byron sent it home for his sixth of the season.

The Bruins then failed on two power plays but thought they had cut the lead in half on the first. Beleskey, who later scored his third goal in the last two games and fourth in the last four, appeared to be the one who poked the puck under Condon, but the whistle had already blown.

The Canadiens made it 3-0 late in the period when Pacioretty, who later scored his 16th goal, batted the puck of the air toward Gallagher, who also knocked it out of the air for his first goal since Nov. 20.

Bruins fourth-line left-winger Zac Rinaldo was a minus-3 in just 6:21 on the ice in the first two periods.

NOTES: Both goaltenders wore masks honoring the New England Patriots. ... Bruins coach Claude Julien was wearing a Bill Belichick cutoff sweatshirt. "I just wanted to honor him," Julien said on NBC of the Patriots coach. ... Montreal RW Brendan Gallagher returned after missing 17 games with broken fingers. ... With C David Krejci (injured) and RW David Pastrnak (World Junior Championships after injury) missing, Bruins LW Brad Marchand publicly apologized to his teammates for the three-game suspension he picked up clipping Ottawa D Mark Borowiecki on Tuesday night. "I just want to acknowledge the situation I've put my team in for being undisciplined and affecting the game for them, taking away from the excitement for the fans, being a part of this rivalry, taking that away from them and also for affecting this game for myself and putting myself in the situation to not be part of this," Marchand said. ... The Bruins recalled C Alex Khoklachev and sent D Colin Miller to Providence. ... The Canadiens' power play came in three of 37 in the last 13 games. ... Former Bruins RW Lyndon Byers helped coached Saturday's 5-4 Boston Alumni Game win wearing a kilt. ... American anthem singer Jordan Smith heard boos because he wasn't Bruins fan favorite Rene Rancourt.