The Montreal Canadiens arrived at TD Garden for a rare Sunday-night game feeling good about their play, having claimed points in their last three games. Those positive feelings were tested with some news since the start of their match the night before, with a report that Jake Allen was day-to-day after getting run by a combination of Dylan Larkin and Jeff Petry in the last game, and Mike Hoffman also out with an injury.
Montreal’s best bet to get the win was to play a strong five-on-five game, and they proved they were prepared for that on the opening shifts.