Pacioretty scored twice to lead the Canadiens to a 5-2 victory over the Maple Leafs on Wednesday night and emphatically avenge a 6-0 home loss on Feb. 9.

There was bad blood between the longtime rivals in that previous meeting when an alleged biting incident involving Mikhail Grabovski and Pacioretty took place.

But instead of physical retaliation, the Canadiens effectively used their speed to outplay Toronto, cementing the win on third-period goals by rookie Brendan Gallagher, Pacioretty and Brian Gionta.

“The coaches talked to us before the game about sticking to our game plan and not getting sucked into the emotions of the game,” Pacioretty said. “I think we did a great job of that.”

Defenseman Josh Gorges echoed Pacioretty’s take on the rematch.

“There’s always a lot of different ideas, different emotions especially after the last way we played these guys about how do we get back,” he said. “It’s not about grabbing somebody and jumping them and feeding them punches because that really doesn’t do us any good in the long run.

“It may feel good for a few minutes if that opportunity did ever come, but ultimately two points always feels better.”

Gallagher scored his sixth of the season at 9:08 of the third period to break a 2-2 tie. Pacioretty clinched the win for Eastern Conference-leading Montreal (13-4-3) with his sixth at 14:26, and Gionta added an empty-net goal with 2:26 left.

Frazer McLaren and Clarke MacArthur scored for Toronto (12-9), which had won three straight at home.

Since being shut out by Toronto, the streaking Canadiens have gone 7-0-2. They outshot the Leafs 40-23 before a crowd of 19,625 — the largest in Toronto this season.

The Maple Leafs, who earned a 2-1 win at Montreal in the season opener, fell to 4-5 at home overall.

“The Maple Leafs played two terrific games at the Bell Centre and we knew we had to bounce back from those type of games,” Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. “We certainly played a great team game and stuck to our plan, and we were controlling our emotion to play that game.

“Right from the get go I thought our guys were ready to play, and we set the tone. They tried to be physical on us but I was not afraid of that. We just kept focusing on the things we had to do to be successful.”

Maple Leafs goalie Ben Scrivens made his eighth straight start and kept his club in the game, finishing with 35 saves.

“We were flat, flat, flat, flat,” Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said. “It looked like at times that we were playing in our boots and they were playing on skates.

“We just didn’t get anything going for ourselves. I don’t think there’s any way to paint it pretty and I’m sure you guys will give us a lot of help.”

The Canadiens had forward Michael Ryder in the lineup after reacquiring him from the Dallas Stars on Tuesday for Erik Cole.

Ryder didn’t figure in the scoring but wore his usual No. 73 after rookie Gallagher gave it up to him. Ryder has worn No. 73 since breaking into the NHL in 2003. Gallagher wore No. 11.

Montreal controlled much of the first period, outshooting the Leafs 12-4, but McLaren opened the scoring with his second goal at 13:44.

Defenseman Alexei Emelin tied it with his first at 16:56 before Toronto’s Mike Brown received a major penalty for checking from behind. He was ejected after he hit Gorges in the final minute of the period.

Pacioretty put Montreal ahead on the power play at 4:17 of the second. Scrivens attempted to deflect P.K. Subban’s point shot to the corner but it deflected in off Pacioretty for his fifth.

Toronto had a prime chance to tie it when Grabovski was awarded a penalty shot at 11:45 after he was hauled down by Emelin. But Grabovski couldn’t beat Price to the stick side on the attempted deke.

MacArthur tied it at 15:47 with his fifth.

Game notes

This was the third of five meetings this season between the teams. … James Reimer served as Scrivens’ backup after being added to the active roster earlier Wednesday. Reimer had been out since sustaining a knee injury Feb. 11 against Philadelphia. G Jussi Rynnas was reassigned to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. Reimer is expected to start Thursday at the New York Islanders. … With Rafael Diaz (concussion) out, Montreal D Tomas Kaberle suited up against his former team. … Maple Leafs D Mark Fraser came into the game leading the NHL with a plus-14 rating.

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The Canadiens earned their third straight win Saturday night when Brendan Gallagher and Rene Bourque each had a goal and an assist in a 4-1 victory over the sagging Philadelphia Flyers.

The win came a week to the day after a 6-0 whitewashing by Toronto at the Bell Centre.

Defenseman Josh Gorges said the club did right to forget that defeat and focus on the games ahead.

“I thought the way we handled that game, with (Erik) Cole getting the guys together, guys talking and coming back to work the right way. … You can lick your wounds and feel sorry for yourselves and point fingers, but instead of doing that we decided to look in the mirror, and be accountable and get better,” Gorges said. “We had a good week.”

The Canadiens rebounded with a 4-3 shootout win at Tampa Bay on Tuesday night and a 1-0 overtime win over the Panthers in Florida on Thursday before putting away Philadelphia.

“It was important to bounce back,” coach Michel Therrien said. “We got better each game. I like how we competed. I couldn’t ask for more.”

David Desharnais and Tomas Plekanec also scored for the Canadiens, while backup Peter Budaj got his first win in three starts this season while filling in for Carey Price, who was at home sick. Max Pacioretty and Brian Gionta each had a pair of assists.

Daniel Briere had the lone goal for the Flyers, who have lost three of their last four and looked tired and listless as they were outshot 29-19. The Flyers had only seven shots when Briere scored more than halfway through the second period.

Captain Claude Giroux’s concern with his team’s flat play was evident when he spoke after the game.

“There’s no compete,” he said. “We’re not winning battles.

“We’re just going through the motions. You know, we’re a young team that can skate. We should be winning more battles than this. It’s just frustrating to see. I know I have to be better, but a team is 20 guys and you need everybody to show up.”

Brian Boucher started in place of Ilya Bryzgalov and had little chance on the Montreal goals.

“Sometimes there are games where you go out there and see how it plays out,” Boucher said. “You don’t want to play the game that way. You want to be on the attack, on the balls of your feet. Maybe that was the case tonight.”

It may have been a costly win for Montreal, which has been healthy since the start of the season except for center Petteri Nokelainen’s back injury.

Gallagher left four minutes into the third period after he was checked into the boards by Luke Schenn, and Pacioretty exited the game after crashing either an elbow or his ribs into a goalpost after being hauled down by Kimmo Timonen at 11:52.

Therrien said both players had upper body injuries and would undergo tests to determine the extent of the problems.

Later, forward Colby Armstrong took a puck to face and went for treatment. And then defenseman Alexei Emelin struggled to the bench after being checked from behind by Giroux, although he stayed in the game.

The Flyers were coming off a 5-3 loss to New Jersey on Friday night. They were outshot 12-2 in the opening period but Boucher kept them in the game.

Gallagher got his fifth of the season at 8:53 after taking a feed from Pacioretty and putting a nifty move on Timonen before scoring on a low shot.

Gallagher and Pacioretty combined again to feed Desharnais alone in front 1:15 into the second frame.

Defenseman P.K. Subban made a sprawling save after Budaj misplayed a puck behind his crease, but the shutout was broken moments later when Briere put a shot in off Andrei Markov’s leg at 13:56.

Plekanec got his seventh of the season 4:32 into the third as he took his own rebound off defenseman Braydon Coburn and fired it past the sprawled Boucher.

Bourque was credited with an empty-net goal at 18:56.

Game notes

Goalie Robert Mayer was called up from AHL Hamilton to back up Budaj. … Montreal defenseman Alexei Emelin, hit on the face by a puck in the preseason, has traded in his face cage for a visor. … Ryan White, Yannick Weber and Tomas Kaberle were scratched for Montreal. The Flyers sat out Kurtis Foster, Herry Zolnierczyk and Tom Sestito.

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