Poor Execution, Few Positives | RECAP: TOR @ MTL

It was a night of missed opportunities for the Montreal Canadiens as they suffered a 2-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs in preseason action.

GAME RECAP | Toronto Maple Leafs vs Montreal Canadiens

Forward lines
40 Joel Armia  91 Sean Monahan  17 Josh Anderson
70 Tanner Pearson  71 Jake Evans  11 Brendan Gallagher
97 Joshua Roy  62 Owen Beck  56 Jesse Ylonen
53 Jan Mysak  13 Mitchell Stephens  85 John Parker-Jones

Defense pairings
54 Jordan Harris  94 Logan Mailloux
72 Arber Xhekaj  27 Gustav Lindstrom
92 Nicolas Beaudin  52 Justin Barron

Goaltenders
30 Cayden Primeau
95 Strauss Mann

Out of the lineup
Scratches: Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Kirby Dach, Juraj Slafkovsky, Gabriel Bourque, Brandon Gignac, Jared Davidson, Lias Andersson, Filip Mesar, Emil Heineman, Alex Newhook, Michael Pezzetta, Sean Farrell, Xavier Simoneau, Lucas Condotta, Nathan Legare, Kaiden Guhle, David Reinbacher, Mike Matheson, David Savard, William Trudeau, Jonathan Kovacevic, Mattias Norlinder, Brady Keeper, Jakub Dobes, Sam Montembeault, Jake Allen.

Injuries: Christian Dvorak (lower body), Carey Price (lower body), Chris Wideman (upper body)

The Maple Leafs won the first of three consecutive matches against the Canadiens by a score of 2-1. Both of Toronto's goals were scored in the second period, while Josh Anderson cut the deficit to one with his second goal of the pre-season with 5:21 remaining in the final frame.  

Friday's game was being hyped to be physical and fantasy matchmakers were hoping that Arber Xhekaj and Ryan Reaves drop the gloves. With this contest having no impact to the standings, it wouldn't be wise for both players to go out of the way looking for a combat. 

The match was disputed with minimal scrums and no bad blood. That might change by Monday when the teams will be opponents for the third time in four days. 

Montreal did not capitalize on Toronto's indiscipline and failed to convert on their six power play opportunities. The silver lining is that their most dangerous weapons such as Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Kirby Dach were not in uniform. 

The Maple Leafs had several chances on their penalty kill and Matthew Knies took advantage a turnover by Justin Barron and the remaining individuals wearing the home jersey on the ice were not ready to take action on the sequence. 

In goal, Cayden Primeau played the full 60 minutes and made 24 stops. He was unlucky in Toronto's second goal as Mikko Kokkonen's shot from the point hit a body before crossing the red line. With only three games remaining before the season opener, Friday may have played his final full game before management settles on the season opening roster. 

The fans in the arena witnessed a lackluster performance from both squads. Martin St. Louis noted post game that his team lacked execution.

Canadiens (1-2-0)
Shots: 25
Face-off %: 57
Power play: 0/6
Penalty minutes: 4
Hits: 11
Blocks: 19

Maple Leafs (2-0-1)
Shots: 26
Face-off %: 43
Power play: 0/2
Penalty minutes: 12
Hits: 12
Blocks:21

Canadiens Scorers
1st period: No scoring
2nd period: No scoring
3rd period: Anderson (2)
OT: n/a
SO: n/a

Maple Leafs Scorers
1st period: No scoring
2nd period: Knies (1)-SHG, Kokkonen (1)
3rd period: No scoring 
OT: n/a
SO: n/a

Goaltenders
MTL: Primeau (L) 1-1-0 
OTT: Samsonov (W) 1-0-0, Petruzzelli

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwLDSypYNto[/embed]

Owen Beck

Check out the game preview here: Canadiens Arber Xhekaj Ready to Face the Leafs | PREVIEW: TOR @ MTL

The Original-Six rivals will square off for the second time of their three-game sequence on Saturday.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm ET on Saturday, September 29th at the Bell Centre.