The Canadian played against a more seasoned Maple Leafs team on Monday night at Scotiabank Arena, and a few players took the opportunity to earn points.
Nick Suzuki scored 31 seconds into overtime and the Montreal team defeated the Toronto club 5-4.
Suzuki moved the strings on a return, after Cole Caufield hit the crossbar.
“It’s always nice to score in this arena,” Suzuki said. It doesn’t give us any points in the standings, but it’s good to break the ice like that. »
The Habs avoided suffering a third straight loss against the Leafs during their camp. He lost the first two duels at the Bell Center despite the absence of most of Toronto’s stars.
“I thought we played an excellent game collectively,” said Canadiens head coach Martin St-Louis. I know we were behind, but we didn’t try to come back with a special play.
“We responded well after the fourth goal. The guys felt we were in the game. We had to continue working in the same way and we were rewarded. »
Defenders Mattias Norlinder and Logan Mailloux earned points in this meeting. Norlinder scored a goal and played with more confidence, especially when he had the puck.
“I really liked his match,” St-Louis said of Norlinder. He plays with confidence. He had some good touches. He is a smart player and he is gaining confidence. »
Mailloux also played with confidence even against the big players of the Maple Leafs.
Kirby Dach, Johnathan Kovacevic and Josh Anderson also scored for the Canadian, who won a second game during his preparatory schedule (2-3-0). Jake Allen stopped 24 shots in his first full outing of camp.
For the Leafs, John Tavares scored a double. Noah Gregor and Max Domi were the other scorers. Ilya Samsonov made 21 saves.
The Canadian will be off on Tuesday, then will train at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard on Wednesday before heading to Mont-Tremblant. He will spend two days in the Laurentians before playing his last preparatory match on Saturday, in Ottawa, against the Senators.
Another great battle
The advantage went to the visitors at the start of the match. The Habs took the first seven shots on goal of the game and took the opportunity to open the scoring at 3:24, on the power play.
Norlinder took a shot from the blue line and the puck deflected against the leg of Maple Leafs defenseman Jake McCabe before ending up behind the goal line.
The tide subsequently turned. Gregor surprised Allen at 7:13 on the Maple Leafs’ first shot on goal, after a one-on-one buildup against Arber Xhekaj.
The Maple Leafs took the lead after 12:10 of play, on the power play. Auston Matthews joined Tavares at the mouth of the net, then the Leafs captain surprised Allen in the high end.
The home team continued to have the wind in their sails at the start of the second period, but Allen kept the Canadian in the game with some good saves.
Allen was particularly spectacular when he took out the glove to frustrate Matthews while the Leafs were shorthanded.
The Canadian goaltender was, however, powerless with 5:15 remaining, shortly after a turnover by Emil Heineman in the neutral zone. Domi tried to reach William Nylander in the slot, but the puck came back to him and he threaded the needle.
The Habs managed to reduce the gap to 3-2 with 11.6 seconds remaining in the second period, shorthanded. Dach barely beat Samsonov after receiving a pass from Sean Monahan.
The Leafs restored their two-goal lead with 8:20 left in the final period. At the end of a sequence of approximately two minutes for the Canadian players, Tavares beat Allen with a one-timer.
The Canadian responded 2:03 later. Kovacevic surprised Samsonov, who was bothered by the presence of defender Mikko Kokkonen alongside him.
The visitors did not give up. Anderson tied the score 4-4 with 40.2 seconds left in regulation after Allen was replaced by an extra attacker. He scored from the slot after a pass from Dach.
Suzuki finally decided in overtime.