Despite having a lengthy advantage to end the game, the Montreal Canadiens couldn't draw even with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
GAME RECAP | Montreal Canadiens 2 vs Toronto Maple Leafs 3 | FINAL
Canadiens Lineup
Forwards
22 Cole Caufield - 14 Nick Suzuki - 20 Juraj Slafkovsky
89 Joshua Roy - 15 Alex Newhook - 40 Joel Armia
11 Brendan Gallagher - 71 Jake Evans - 17 Josh Anderson
55 Michael Pezzetta - 49 Rafael Harvey-Pinard - 70 Tanner Pearson
Defensemen
8 Mike Matheson - 21 Kaiden Guhle
72 Arber Xhekaj - 58 David Savard
47 Jayden Struble - 54 Jordan Harris
Goaltenders
Starter: 35 Sam Montembeault
Alternate: 30 Cayden Primeau
Out of the lineup
Scratches: , Johnathan Kovacevic, Jesse Ylonen
Injuries: Carey Price (knee), Chris Wideman (back), Kirby Dach (knee), Christian Dvorak (upper body), Colin White (upper body)
Habs Hockey Report
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXiQvljTsxE[/embed]
Game Report
It was a classic Saturday night matchup between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens on Hockey Night in Canada. The two teams hadn't faced each other since the opening night of the season.
In the past 12 games between the two teams, the home squad had prevailed, including the Canadiens winning five consecutive games at the Bell Centre. This contest started well for the Habs with Mike Matheson opening the scoring just 38 seconds after the opening faceoff. Montreal carried a one goal lead to the dressing room after an evenly played first period.
It was the Leafs turn to score early, with Arber Xhekaj getting caught at the Toronto blueline and Bobby McMann beating Sam Montembeault from the top of the circle just 39 seconds into the middle frame.
Max Domi gave the Leafs their first lead late in the second period as he broke up the ice and chipped the puck under the glove of Montembeault.
Alex Newhook scored his tenth goal of the season beating Ilya Samsonov with a quick shot on the power play.
John Tavares scored the game winner knocking in a rebound that Montembeault couldn't corral after making a save on a Jake McCabe point shot.
The Canadiens finished the final three minutes with the man advantage including a lengthy 6-on-4 stretch but could not find the equalizer.
The visitors didn't bring their 'A' game to the Bell Centre but were able to win their second game of the season series over the Canadiens. It was a difficult start for Montembeault who would have liked at least two of the goals back. He has earned just one win in his last seven starts, coming against the Arizona Coyotes.
Game Statistics
Canadiens (24-30-10)
Shots: 31
Face-off %: 54.7
Power play: 1/4
Penalty minutes: 6
Hits: 43
Blocks: 14
Maple Leafs (37-19-8)
Shots: 27
Face-off %: 45.3
Power play: 0/2
Penalty minutes: 10
Hits: 20
Blocks: 13
Scoring Summary
Canadiens Scorers
1st period: Matheson (9)
2nd period: --
3rd period: Newhook (10)-PPG
OT: --
SO: --
Maple Leafs Scorers
1st period: --
2nd period: McMann (10), Domi (8)
3rd period: Tavares (20)
OT: --
SO: --
Goaltenders
MTL: Montembeault (L) 13-12-5
TOR: Samsonov (W) 17-5-6
Canadiens Players of the Game
Kaiden Guhle - Guhle played his shutdown role very effectively finishing the game with a plus-1 rating.
Juraj Slafkovsky - Slafkovsky assisted on both Canadiens goals and registered five hits in more than 21 minutes of ice time.
Video Highlights
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsdVzqVhA2c[/embed]
Post-game Quotes
Cole Caufield
"I thought we had jump the whole game. I think everybody was playing well tonight. We didn't have any passengers. It's a good recipe for success but just came up short again."
Up Next
The Canadiens continue their three game home stand as they host Johnny Gaudreau and the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.
Be sure to bookmark THN.com/Montreal for year-round coverage of the Montreal Canadiens, Laval Rocket, and Habs prospects playing in leagues around the world.
