Brendan Gallagher scored two goals, and Joel Armia, Len Hutson and Kayden Guhle each made two assists for Montreal (1-1-0). Kayden Primeau made 23 saves and Oliver Kapanen had an assist in his NHL debut.
“This is a team that has been waiting for this game,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “They played simple, better than us tonight for 60 minutes. We had moments, but it was not enough.”
Gallagher gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 8:26 of the first period with a power-play goal, redirecting Armia’s shot from the top of the left circle past Swayman.
Charlie McAvoy tied the game at 1-1 at 11:04 with a wrist shot from the high slot on the power play.
Cole Caufield put Montreal ahead 2-1 at 12:18, tapping the ball into the left post off a seam pass from Guhle at the right point.
Kastelich tied it 2-2 at 13:24 with a shot from the top of the left circle.
Lindholm gave the Bruins a 3-2 lead at 18:23, redirecting Zadorov’s shot from the point that went past Primo. It was Lindholm’s first target for Boston, and Zadorov’s second pass, after both signed long-term contracts with the Bruins when free agency opened on July 1.
“I was just trying to open myself up in the high slot, and obviously we had eye contact there, so I kind of knew [Zadorov] He was trying to go for [a] “Fiery pass there,” Lindholm said. “So, it was a great match on his part, a one-on-one match, and yeah, it was nice to see it come in.”
Pastrnak made it 4-2 at 15:56 of the second period on a slam dunk from the slot, and Koepke pushed it to 5-2 at 16:51 when he slotted Beecher’s attempt into the front net.
“We shot ourselves in the foot in the second half,” Canadian team captain Nick Suzuki said. “We gave up some goals that we would definitely like to get back, and structurally, we can’t make those mistakes. So yeah, [we] “We’ve dug ourselves a very big hole.”
