Fresh off the heels of their impressive season-opening 1-0 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs the previous night, the Montreal Canadiens had their second game in 24 hours as they faced the Boston Bruins on Thursday night. Ultimately, the Bruins emerged with a 6-4 win.
Let’s dive into the highlights!
Setting the Tone
The Canadiens were the first to get on the board when forward Brendan Gallagher tipped a Joel Armia shot right in front of Swayman for his first of the campaign eight minutes into the first period, his first of two on the night. Gallagher, 32, had a bounce back season in 2023-24 finding the back of the net 16 times. For a team that didn’t connect on the powerplay the entire preseason, scored their second in as many nights.
Lane Hutson, in just his fourth career NHL game, notched his third career point with an assist on the goal. Even though he has less experience than most players on the ice at any given time, Hutson clearly stands out as the player with the most talent, and of course, the most potential.
Moments later Charlie McAvoy tied it up with a point shot that eluded Primeau, quickly tying up the game up at one-apiece. The tie didn’t last long as 74 seconds later the Habs lone goalscorer from last night Cole Caufield, scored his second of the season with a juicy rebound in front of Swayman’s net. Hutson recorded another assist on that play, as well.
The second period saw a much quieter Montreal Canadiens squad, unable to record a shot until the eight-minute mark. The wheels did start to come off late in the second when two quick goals by the Bruins 55 seconds apart saw them jump to a commanding 5-2 lead after two periods with the shot advantage 23-11.
The Canadiens finding themselves down by three in the third, had to give it their all, Midway through the period after a clean face-off win by Jake Evans, defenceman Kaiden Guhle, who had missed almost the entire preseason with an appendectomy, fired a seemingly harmless looking shot that somehow found the back of the net for his first. Oliver Kapanen, in his first career game, got an assist on the goal, his first point in the big leagues.
Despite the loss, there were still a lot of positive takeaways; the youth movement is starting to work well, Caufield is on pace for 82 goals, and their power play connected yet again. Lane Hutson was a dominant force on the ice, fairly impressive when you consider this is just the start of his NHL career. We don’t expect him to maintain a point-per-game pace for the entire season, but so far Hutson has done a great job when it comes to helping the Habs control the flow of the game.
The Montreal Canadiens will look to get back into the win column as they travel home for a game Saturday versus another division rival, the Ottawa Senators.