Five unanswered in Boston: Canadiens chase Swayman, push point streak to 12
Montreal scored the game's first five goals at TD Garden, ended the Bruins' seven-game home winning streak and climbed past Boston in the Atlantic with a 5-2 win.
The Atlantic Division's two early pace-setters met Thursday night in Boston, and for half the game only one of them showed up. The Canadiens scored the first five goals on their way to a 5-2 win at TD Garden, stretching their point streak to 12 games (9-0-3) and ending the Bruins' seven-game home winning streak — a result that moved Montreal ahead of Boston in the division, per TSN.
Breakaway hockey
Kirby Dach opened with a wraparound just 2:34 in, and Josh Anderson banged home a rebound for his eighth of the season before the first period was out. Then came the rushes: Jake Evans converted Anderson's stretch pass on a breakaway, Cole Caufield beat Jeremy Swayman clean on another, and Phillip Danault one-timed in the fifth from the right circle. Swayman's night ended after four goals on 17 shots — the first time Boston has changed goalies mid-game this season, according to TSN — with Michael DiPietro stopping 13 in relief. Casey Mittelstadt answered with both Boston goals, 38 seconds after Danault's and again 52 seconds into the third, but the deficit never got smaller than three.
Fowler's piece of history
Rookie Jacob Fowler made 30 saves for his fifth straight road win to open the season, tying Charlie Hodge's franchise record for the longest season-opening road winning streak, per NHL.com. Teammate Kirby Dach called him "our rock." Coach Martin St. Louis stayed level: "You're winning 5-0, but the game could easily be 3-2 the other way."
Boston's postmortem was blunter. Captain David Pastrnak called the start "unacceptable," and coach Marco Sturm said his team was "very flat."
What it means
Montreal improved to 12-3-4 and is now 10-0-2 when leading after two periods; Boston fell to 13-5-1. The one shadow on the Canadiens' night: Chris Kreider left in the third period after a collision and did not return, with no postgame update on his condition.