Boston's fourth line performed “huge” in win vs. Canadian

BOSTON – The Bruins needed a better performance in their home opener against the Montreal Canadiens after losing their first game of the 2024-25 season. The Black and Gold scored four straight goals and held off a third-period push to defeat their Original Six rivals 6-4 on Thursday night.

“I thought we won a lot more battles, playing all three zones and playing faster,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said of the team’s performance. “I think we can see what kind of team we can be. We need to become a better control team and understand game management a bit better. I don't think our game management was exemplary in the third game, but it's hard to win in this league. We got our first victory. We’ll just keep building now.”

Boston received an offensive boost from its fourth line of Johnny Beecher, Mark Kastelic and Cole Koepke. With two goals from Kastelic and another from Koepke, the trio scored a total of six points.

“It was huge. I think Kastelic scored 45 or 48 goals in junior hockey. So that’s something he can do,” Montgomery said. “It was just nice to see how hard they hit the net. The Koepke goal is Johnny Beecher going hard into the net. And on that first Kastelic goal, Koepke originally brought the puck hard into the net, which created that attacking zone time.”

Montgomery continued: “We feel like we want to do more given the speed and the size of our team. “That’s not easy, but that was a good sign.”

“It feels really good, I mean it just feels good to contribute to the team's success and it's always a good feeling to get on the scoresheet,” Kastelic said. “It was really fun playing with my (linemates) tonight. I think we're starting to develop our games together and get more familiar with each other. It’s starting to pay off.”

The size of the fourth line – Beecher is 1.80 meters tall and weighs 100 kilograms, Kastelic is 1.80 meters tall and weighs 100 kilograms and Koepke is no problem at 1.80 meters – is a huge advantage when driving to the top of the network.

“I think we play really fast and we’re all at pretty good size,” Kastelic said. “So if we put it on the net and create chaos often, good things will happen. … I think we all agreed and put the puck in the net. We play very fast and it is a team that is difficult to contain and a team that is playing in back-to-back games that we were able to capitalize on. We had a lot of success tonight.”

Here are more notes from Thursday's Bruins-Canadiens game:

– The Bruins got a lot of production from their offseason signings with four goals and six assists. Elias Lindholm and Koepke each had a three-point night with a goal and two assists apiece.

— Nikita Zadorov recorded two assists and surpassed 100 assists in the win.

— Jeremy Swayman made his season debut after signing an eight-year extension on Sunday. The Bruins goaltender made 20 saves in the win and even challenged Montreal forward Nick Suzuki in the second period after the Canadiens captain got too close to the ball.

– Boston improved to 14-0-1 in its last 15 games against Montreal. The Original Six rivals met for the 761st time, with the Bruins holding a record of 295-353-103-11. Boston improved to 176-142-56-7 at home against Montreal, with a points margin of 1,125-1,029 in those 381 games.

– The Bruins continue their three-game homestand on Saturday when they host the Los Angeles Kings in a matinee matchup. TD Garden puck drop is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET. You can watch the game as well as an hour of pre- and post-game coverage on NESN.