Swayman returns, Bruins beat Montreal 6-4 in home opener

BOSTON (AP) — Jeremy Swayman stopped 21 shots and Mark Kastelic scored twice in his first game since signing a new contract on Thursday night as the Boston Bruins scored four straight goals to overcome an early deficit and beat the Montreal Canadiens to beat with 6 -4.

Elias Lindholm and Cole Koepke each had a goal and two assists for Boston, which lost 6-4 to the Florida Panthers in its season opener on Tuesday night. Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak also scored to help the Bruins take a 5-2 lead.

Brendan Gallagher scored two goals for Montreal, the second goal with four minutes left, making it just one goal. Kaiden Guhle had a goal and an assist and Cayden Primeau made 23 saves for the Canadiens, who beat Toronto 1-0 in Montreal on Wednesday night.

Canadiens: Montreal began the season playing games on consecutive nights and didn't have the energy to keep up with Boston.

Bruins: After losing their opener in Florida with Joonas Korpisalo in net, a game in which they trailed 5-1 in the second period, Boston seemed more at home with Swayman. The goalie remained without a contract this summer and missed all of training camp before agreeing to an eight-year, $66 million deal on Sunday.

Montreal scored two goals in the third period and cut the three-goal deficit to 5-4 with Gallagher's goal with four minutes left. But just 17 seconds later, Kastelic scored his second goal.

The Bruins outscored Montreal 23-11 in the first two periods, but the Canadiens had a 14-6 lead in the third period.

Montreal returns home to face Ottawa on Saturday. The Bruins host the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday in the middle of a three-game homestand.