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National Hockey League
Boston 6, Montreal 4
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, October 10, 2024
Where: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Referees: Michael Markovic, Wes McCauley
Linesmen: Tyson Baker, Dan Kelly
Attendance: 17850

The Boston Bruins turned around a 2-1 deficit with four consecutive goals and held on to defeat the Montreal Canadiens 6-4 on Thursday for their ninth consecutive home-opening victory.

Mark Kastelic scored his first pair as a Bruin, including a key insurance marker with 4:00 remaining that halted a two-goal Montreal rally.

Cole Koepke and Elias Lindholm each had a goal and two assists, while Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak (one goal, one assist) each scored their second goal in as many games.

McAvoy became only the second defenseman in Bruins history to score in the first two games of a season.

Nikita Zadorov and Brandon Carlo also had two assists apiece.

Jeremy Swayman made 21 saves in his first start since signing an eight-year, $66 million extension with the Bruins on Sunday.

Montreal's Brendan Gallagher scored twice and Cole Caufield tallied a goal.

Also for the Canadiens, Boston University product Lane Hutson registered his first multi-point game in his fourth career contest with two assists, while Oliver Kapanen had his first NHL point.

Cayden Primeau (23 saves) lost his season debut.

The Bruins took a 3-2 lead with 1:37 left before the first intermission as Lindholm tipped Zadorov's point shot through the legs of Primeau.

Benefitting from Zacha's hard work down low, Pastrnak ripped home a shot in the slot with 4:04 remaining in the second.

Only 55 seconds later, Koepke sprung John Beecher into the offensive zone before following the play and banging home the puck that was left loose to make it 5-2.

Josh Anderson got one back for Montreal at 9:05 of the third, sending a long shot through traffic that deflected past Swayman.

Gallagher tallied from the slot with 4:17 left before Kastelic struck quickly thereafter on an attempted driving pass that deflected off a defender.

The visitors drew first blood 8:26 into the game when Gallagher tipped in a Joel Armia shot.

McAvoy glided across to the top of the left circle to fire in Boston's game-tying wrister at 11:04.

Montreal regained the lead only 1:14 later as an uncovered Caufield scored a loose puck that stayed at the left post following Kaiden Guhle's point shot. The star winger now has goals in back-to-back games to begin consecutive seasons.

Kastelic netted the 2-2 goal at 13:24, slotting home a slick wrister after Zadorov slid the puck down from the left point to the top of the circle.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Montreal   Boston
Brendan Gallagher 2 Points Cole Koepke 3
Brendan Gallagher 2 Goals Mark Kastelic 2
Joel Armia 2 Assists Cole Koepke 2
Brendan Gallagher 1 Power Play Goals Charlie McAvoy 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Cayden Primeau .793 Save Percentage Jeremy Swayman .833
Cayden Primeau 23 Saves Jeremy Swayman 20
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Montreal 24 4 1-6 4-5 10 33
Boston 29 6 1-5 5-6 12 33
Upcoming Games
  • Boston will play their next game at home against Los Angeles. The Bruins have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .500 after a loss.
  • Montreal will play their next game at home against Ottawa. The Canadiens have a W/L % of .000 after a win and 1.000 after a loss.