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Canadiens fans may have gone to bed Wednesday night with visions of a Stanley Cup parade after their shutout win on home ice against Toronto.

But 24 hours later, reality set in against the Boston Bruins in a 6-4 loss, with many old habits resurfacing. This would have been the Canadiens’ first 2-0-0 start since 2015-16.

A slow start, with goals in quick succession, missteps in the defensive zone, an ineffective power play and Cayden Primeau’s weak glove. We’ve seen this movie before and while the Bruins were resting at home on Wednesday night, the Canadiens’ rebuild still has some work and growing pains ahead. On the other hand, at least the Canadiens never gave up despite trailing 5-2 after 40 minutes

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But at Hidden Game the glass is always half full. The Canadiens won’t get to 82-0 this season as they shut down every team, but an 81-1 record still remains possible. For now.

And we thought the CFL schedule made no sense: When Montreal took the ice against Boston, it was the first of fifteen sets of back-to-back matches the team will play this season. Last season, the Canadiens went 7-15-2 under similar circumstances, including an abysmal 1-11-0 in the second game.

The Canadiens open the season with three games in four nights and four games over a six-night span.

Next time just stay home: The Canadiens haven’t won a game at TD Garden, also known as the Bermuda Triangle, since 2019.

Who Needs Exercise?: Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman made his regular-season debut — four days after signing an eight-year, $66 million contract. The 25-year-old spent most of training camp training at Boston University and had just one full practice with his NHL team. On the other hand, the Canadiens had just 11 shots through two periods, a total that will never win many games.

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An evening full of firsts: Canadiens forward Oliver Kapanen made his NHL debut, replacing Emil Heineman in the lineup. He also registered Montreal’s first shot, although that didn’t happen until the sixth minute. Kapanen was credited with an assist on Josh Anderson’s goal in the third period for his first big league point.

Fastest penalty taken by a goalkeeper: Just 24 seconds after the opening face-off, Primeau was guilty of a trip. But give him a Mulligan, because that came against Bruins bully Brad Marchand. How can anyone blame Primeau for that?

One thing went well: The Bruins appeared to open the scoring with a goal from Hampus Lindholm on the ensuing power play. Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis disputed the call, saying Justin Brazeau made contact with Primeau’s stick, making it difficult for him to play the shot. After a fairly quick video review, the goal was disallowed.

The old man still has it: Brendan Gallagher, the second-oldest Canadiens player at 32, opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 8:24 of the first period. He also scored Montreal’s fourth goal at 15:43 of the third, bringing the visitors within one and providing a short-lived spark. Fast starts are nothing new for the pesky 6-foot-1, 185-pounder who always goes to the net. He opened last season with two goals in five games. Gallagher now has 12 goals and 28 points in 41 career games against Boston.

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Sometimes it’s just not your night: The Bruins’ first goal, scored by Charlie McAvoy, saw Christian Dvorak collide with David Savard.

Momentum, schmomentum (Part I): Seventy-four seconds after McAvoy scored, Cole Caufield gave the Canadiens a 2-1 lead with his second goal this season.

Momentum, schmomentum (part II): Sixty-six seconds later, Mark Kastelic tied the score.

Does this sound familiar?: In the second period, the Canadiens didn’t register their first shot until 8:30 had passed.

When it rains, it pours: The Bruins scored twice within 55 seconds in the second period, the goals coming from David Pastrnak and Cole Koepke. The latter has scored a total of one goal in 27 previous career matches.

A not so subtle message: St. Louis started its second power-play unit late in the second period following a TV timeout following a stumbling minor against McAvoy. And in the third, he replaced Juraj Slafkovsky with Anderson on the Canadiens’ top line. The coach also changed his defensive combinations.

The good news: The Canadiens now have two power play goals in as many games.

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The bad news: Montreal went 1-for-6 with the man advantage.

Momentum, schmomentum (Part III): Seventeen seconds after Gallagher’s second goal, which made it 5-4 for Boston with 4:17 to go in the third, Kastelic provided Boston with an insurance goal, closing the scoring. He scored from a terrible angle, behind the end line, after a shot that deflected off Primeau’s stick.

The leader of the clubhouse: That goes to Canadian defender Arber Xhekaj at minus-3.

Quick stats: Gallagher led all Montreal players with four shots. Primeau’s save percentage against Boston was an ugly .793.

They said it: “As a goalkeeper you want them all back, but especially 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 boys a chance to win. I feel like I didn’t do that tonight.”

“We kind of shot ourselves in the foot there in the second,” captain Nick Suzuki said. “There were a few goals that we definitely want back. We dug ourselves too big a hole.”

“We’ve made strides as a team, but we’re clearly not there yet,” Gallagher told the Boston media. “We still have some growing to do. Understanding how to play a disciplined second period on the road is something we can learn from. The game got away from us a bit. We have put ourselves in a difficult position.”

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

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