The Montreal Canadiens welcomed the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre tonight as the curtain finally raised on the regular season and this game packed a punch.
As always for the home opener, everyone was excited to see what the Montreal Canadiens had in store for the pre-game ceremony, and the Habs didn't disappoint. If they failed to bring the torch back, they highlighted a new tradition: an orchestra was on the ice to play Fix You, the Coldplay song to which the players come onto the ice for every home game. How very appropriate for a rebuilding team.
While the song played, the players were introduced one by one by Michel Lacroix's familiar voice, the one that makes you feel at home at the Bell Centre. They came out of the tunnel while one of their photos was shown, and smoke was let out in the arena. It looked really good, and as Nick Suzuki was introduced, I couldn't help but notice how his picture was much closer to the others and focus on his eyes as he sported an intense stare...it almost looked "Rockety" if I can word it that way.
The nicest moment of the pre-game had to be Patrik Laine's introduction, with the crowd going absolutely crazy. The big Finn looked quite moved, and you could see his coach smiling in the background as Martin St-Louis, so clearly, enjoyed that welcome for the injured winger.
Less than a minute and a half into the game, Max Domi tried to start some extracurricular activities, but David Savard was a man on a mission tonight, and he let Domi Jr. ridicule himself. As the linesman was escorting him to the box, the pest actually mouthed a not-very-inclusive insult to Savard. I guess he's not aware that hockey is for everyone.
The first was furiously contested, with each team playing a fast attacking style. The only one to find the back of the net was Cole Caufield. The sniper one-timed a perfect passing play straight in the back of the net with assists from Juraj Slafkovsky and Kirby Dach. If the power play was unsuccessful in its 30 attempts in the pre-season, it scored tonight when it really counted.
With that goal, Caufield reached the 150-point mark and became the youngest player to get to that milestone since former captain Saku Koivu.
What a difference a year makes, after losing their home opener 6-5 to the Leafs in a shootout last year, the Canadiens won this one 1-0 in a shutout no less. I want to say the defense was amazing, but it wasn’t. This win was signed by Samuel Montembeault, 47 shots and 47 saves. This is the first time the Canadiens have won a season opener at home by shutout since 1975.
On the close win and the fact they had lost so many one-goal games last season, St-Louis had this to say:
It’s so important we hope to win more in those situations this year. It’s always a learning curve, we’re trying to take the next step this year and it’s to be able to close out those game. I really likes the first half of our game, Toronto in the second half, they played a deep game and we got stuck out on the ice for too long because of that. They’ve got so many good players and they sure brought their fastball in the second half of the game.
For me, the unsung hero of the game was David Savard. Not only was he smart enough to let Domi hang himself, but as always, he was a shot-blocking machine. Furthermore, he did take the time later in the game to sit Domi down on the ice with a hard hit.
Brendan Gallagher also had a good game, taking four shots on net. They were all stopped, but they did help establish pressure in Toronto’s zone. In the first frame, the line he formed with Jake Evans and Emil Heineman managed to keep the Leafs’ first line in its own zone for an extended period of time.
Lane Hutson spent over 18 minutes on the ice and once again showed how shifty and slippery he can be. At one stage, two opponents were nearly literally on his back in the offensive zone, and they couldn’t dispossess him. He did commit a juicy turnover in the game's dying minutes, but his teammates had his back.
In my pre-game article, I asked if Ryan Reaves would dare drop the gloves with Xhekaj, and it turns out he didn’t. The two were on the ice together quite a few times, and the Leafs’ tough guy didn’t even knock on the youngster’s door. Perhaps he recalled their last dance.
The Canadiens are heading to Boston, where they will face the Bruins tomorrow at 7:00 PM ET.
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