4 takeaways from the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 win over the Boston Bruins

The Montreal Canadiens were coming off a disappointing overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild but couldn't afford to dwell on it too long. On Thursday night, they had a pivotal game against the Boston Bruins, and it was a matchup between the two teams at the top of the Atlantic Division.

In their first meeting of the season, the Canadiens got the better of the Bruins as they jumped out to a 5-0 lead midway through the second and won by a final score of 5-2. The Canadiens grabbed the early lead in this game after Kirby Dach scored just over 2:30 into the game, and Josh Anderson extended the lead about six minutes after that.

They took a 2-0 lead into the second period and scored three straight goals by Jake Evans, Cole Caufield, and Phillip Danault to extend their lead to five. The Bruins would cut into the lead with Casey Mittelstadt scoring two in a row, but the Bruins wouldn't get any closer after another great game from Jacob Fowler.

With the regulation win, the Canadiens are going to move into first place and will either be alone in that spot or tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning are also playing on Thursday night and were tied with Montreal in points entering the day.

Mike Matheson returns, paired with Kaiden Guhle

The Montreal Canadiens got defenseman Mike Matheson back for this game after missing the last six games due to an injury. Entering this game, the big question was who Matheson was going to be paired with, and Martin St. Louis ultimately decided to pair him with Kaiden Guhle and keep Lane Hutson and Noah Dobson together as his top pair.

With Matheson back, the Canadiens made Adam Engstrom a healthy scratch and had Alexandre Carrier paired with Arber Xhekaj as the third pair.

The pairing of Matheson and Guhle worked well, as they led the team in +/- with +3, while Matheson had an assist in this game. It is something that the Canadiens will likely stick with for the foreseeable future.

Kirby Dach continues to play well with first goal of the game

Kirby Dach got off to a rough start this season with only one point through the first nine games and three through the first 13. The former third-overall pick would miss two games due to injuries and has seemingly returned as a different player over the last four games.

Since his return, he has four points with two goals and two assists and one of those goals came early on Thursday night against the Boston Bruins. It was the first goal of the game on a great play by Dach as he carried the puck behind the net and wrapped in for the goal.

One of the reasons for his success might be the line that he is playing on as he was put on a line with Alex Newhook and Oliver Kapanen upon his return. Entering the game against Boston, this line has been on the ice for three goals while not allowing a goal in just over 23 minutes of ice time, according to Natural Stat Trick.

This fourth line has been very productive and was a boost for the Canadiens early in this game.

Cole Caufield cements himself in this rivalry with the Boston Bruins

The Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins have one of the most historic rivalries in the entire NHL, and these two teams have now played 769 regular-season games against each other. When two teams play that many games, it is certainly noteworthy when there is a first in a rivalry, and that is exactly what Cole Caufield did on Thursday night.

According to Sportsnet, Cole Caufield is the first Montreal Canadiens player to score a goal in eight straight games against the Boston Bruins. Caufield scored in the second period after the Bruins turned the puck over at the blue line, and he converted it into a breakaway going the other way.

Caufield now has 12 goals on the season, including four in the past five games, and remains on pace for another 50-goal season.

Montreal Canadiens can't afford to keep letting up when they have the lead

There isn't too much to complain about from this performance by the Montreal Canadiens but there is a concerning trend that seems to continue to pop up this season. As Eric Engels of Sportsnet noted, the Canadiens have now had a lead of at least two goals in 13 of their 19 games this season.

Unfortunately, they have struggled to maintain that lead and it has cost them points. The good news is that this wasn't the case against Boston but it seemed like the Canadiens started to coast after they got that fifth goal.

According to Natural Stat Trick, the Bruins in the second and third periods had 22 scoring chances compared to only seven by the Montreal Canadiens in 5v5 situations. Even though they had the five-goal lead, this is just too big of a discrepancy and one of the reasons it felt like Boston was going to get back into this game.

The Canadiens once again got a great performance from Jacob Fowler, who stopped 30 of 32 shots, so the Bruins couldn't get it any closer. However, it is something they have to continue to address and try to correct.

With the big win, the Canadiens will return home for another tough game on Saturday night against the Colorado Avalanche.

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