3 takeaways from Montreal Canadiens' 6-4 loss to division foe Boston Bruins

The Montreal Canadiens were unable to make it two straight wins over divisional opponents, as they were felled 6-4 by their divisional rivals Boston Bruins at TD Garden in downtown Boston on Thursday.

While Wednesday's starter Sam Montembeault made NHL history with a 48-save shutout, Cayden Primeau fared the exact opposite by allowing six Bruins tallies. Additionally, Boston's defense was porous and their special teams play largely ineffective.

Brendan Gallagher got the scoring started for the Habs, striking on the power play and giving them the night's first goal:

While Charlie McAvoy soon responded for the Bruins, Montreal re-took the lead thanks to Cole Caufield's second goal of the season:

The Bruins would then re-seize the momentum thanks to goals from Mark Kastelic and Elias Lindholm, giving them a 3-2 lead at the end of 20 minutes.

Sniper David Pastrnak increased Boston's lead to two goals thanks to his first of the season, followed by a tally from Cole Koepke; the Habs found themselves down by three goals entering the third period.

They'd mount a comeback effort thanks to goals from Josh Anderson and the second tally of the game from Gallagher but couldn't get any closer. Kastelic would seal the win with his second goal with four minutes remaining in regulation.

Here's a look at three big takeaways from Montreal's 6-4 setback at Boston's hands.

3 biggest takeaways from Montreal Canadiens' 6-4 loss to Boston Bruins

#1. Cayden Primeau struggled mightily in net

It wasn't Primeau's night, as Boston took advantage of his weak glove hand and beat him six times on 29 shots. Afterward, he admitted that he was frustrated with his performance, which equaled a .793 save percentage (via Montreal Gazette):

"As a goalie you want them all back, but definitely that last one,” Primeau told reporters in Boston. “It’s frustrating because we had just scored and put ourselves in a good position. This was just frustrating. You want to give the guys a chance to win. It feels as though I didn’t do that tonight.”

#2. Defensive breakdowns led to multiple quick opposition goals

A troubling trend that has plagued the Canadiens for years continued on Thursday night, as they surrendered multiple goals in quick succession.

“We’ve taken steps as a team, but clearly we’re not there yet,” Gallagher said. “We have some growing to do. Understanding how to play a disciplined second period on the road is something we can learn from. The game kind of slipped away from us. We put ourselves in a tough position.”

Meanwhile, head coach Martin St. Louis had a more straightforward approach to how his team handled the second period.

“Offensively I didn’t mind our first period,” St. Louis said. “The second period I just thought we looked dead.”

#3. Brendan Gallagher continued his personal success against Bruins

One of the bright spots of the night for Montreal was Gallagher's pair of tallies, giving him three on the season. It also continued his trend of playing well against the Bruins, giving him 12 goals (28 points) against Boston in his career.

The Canadiens return home to face rivals Ottawa Senators on Saturday at Bell Centre.