Bruins, with Jeremy Swayman back on board, take on the Kings

After their first win of the young season, the Boston Bruins continue their three-game homestand with a Saturday matinee against the Los Angeles Kings.

In an improved performance, the Bruins picked up a 6-4 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in Boston on Thursday, two nights after their season-opening loss at Florida.

The key storyline was the return of goaltender Jeremy Swayman (20 saves), making his first appearance since signing an eight-year, $66 million contract last weekend. He held out through training camp and preseason games while waiting for a new contract.

For Swayman, it was a good feeling to be home after long, arduous negotiations.

“It’s so incredible to be able to play in this building again,” he said. “It's a huge gratitude knowing how much time I've spent away from the rink and I couldn't be happier to be back in the rhythm of things.”

Head coach Jim Montgomery was pleased with the win but saw room for improvement.

“We have to clean things up,” he said, pointing to two goals allowed outside of faceoffs and several icings on the cake that led to goals or power plays against the opponent. “(Swayman) made the saves he could. There were backdoor tap-ins here too because our coverage isn’t solid yet.”

Free-agent signing Elias Lindholm (one goal, two assists) and strong fourth-liners Mark Kastelic (two goals) and Cole Koepke all scored their first goals as Bruins against Montreal.

Kastelic's line with John Beecher and Kopeke on the wings was particularly impressive with its hard, fast style.

“It was just nice to see how hard they hit the net,” Montgomery said. “We feel like we want to do more given the speed and the size of our team.”

Regulars Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak added their second goals in as many games.

Striker Matt Poitras is “very close” to returning from injury and Montgomery hinted he could play on Saturday. The 20-year-old, who underwent season-ending shoulder surgery last February, has yet to play this season.

Los Angeles, continuing its seven-game season-opening road trip due to home arena renovations, scored a 3-1 win at Buffalo on Thursday with Anze Kopitar's natural hat trick in the third period.

Kopitar's winning goal came on the power play with 1:38 left.

“Great play from (Alex Laferriere, knocking the puck out) and that’s a big hand one-timer from Kopi,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “There aren't many people who can do that. And to continue to do that year after year and score a goal like that just shows what quality he has as a player.”

Both teams will be on par for the regular season, but Thursday was a challenge for the Kings as the Sabers have already played the New Jersey Devils twice (both losses) in the NHL Global Series in Prague most recently this weekend.

Despite leading 27-11 through two periods, there was no frustration.

“I mean, even though our game wasn't nearly as strong as we wanted it to be, we were down by a goal at the start of the third away period. And they've already played a few games. This is our first.” “It's called real play,” Kopitar said. “You're really just trying to find something and it's a shot that can change the dynamic of the game. And luckily we found him in third place.”

–Field level media