‘Unbelievable’ fourth line helped propel Bruins to 1st win

BOSTON — The Bruins’ fourth line had a strong game in their 6-4 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.

Mark Kastelic potted two goals, including an insurance goal in the third period, while Johnny Beecher picked up an assist and Cole Keopke amassed three points.

“They were unbelievable,” Elias Lindholm — who scored his first goal as a Bruin on Thursday — said after the game. “I thought they played really well last game, too, created a lot of energy. They’re all big bodies, skate well and they were tough to play against. They got rewarded and deserved to score a couple goals. They were our best line tonight.”

Kastelic’s first goal came off a nice drive led by Koepke who drove the net and helped tie the game at 2-2 in the first period. Koepke made the most of his opportunity with a three-point night after scoring three points in 27 NHL games coming into Thursday. The forward said the line did a good job of “just staying connected” throughout the night.

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“I thought we were playing fast and simple,” Koepke said. “And I think when we play like that, offense in the game kind of comes to us when we’re trying to put the other team on their heels, just trying to wear them down and take care of the puck.”

The trio made an impact whenever they were on the ice and carried over their chemistry from Tuesday’s loss to the Florida Panthers to Thursday’s win against an Original Six rival.

“We’re starting to build our game together and be more comfortable with each other,” Kastelic said. “I think we were just on the same page and we were taking the puck to the net. I think we were just playing with a lot of speed and it’s hard to contain.”

Coach Jim Montgomery called the fourth line’s performance “huge” and lauded their performance as a whole.

“It was just nice to see how hard they went to the net,” he said. “Like the Koepke goal, that’s Johnny Beecher taking it hard to the net. And the first Kastelic goal, Kopeke originally took the puck hard to the net which created that offensive zone time. It’s something that we feel that, with the speed of our team, that we want to do more of. It’s not easy to do that, but that was a good sign.”