Carey Price waved to the crowd with his black cowboy hat, Juraj Slafkovsky, Kaiden Guhle and Arber Xhekaj played their first NHL game, but it was Cole Caufield who made the most noise on this opening night with two goals.
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Martin St-Louis said it, he did not care about the record of no victory in eight games (0-6-2) of his team. He probably had enough experience to throw that card in the trash.
In its first game of the year, the Canadiens confounded the skeptics by signing a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs yesterday at the Bell Centre.
Josh Anderson put the exclamation mark on a colorful night by scoring the game-winning goal with just 17.9 seconds left in the third period. He fired a perfect shot into the top of the net to beat Matt Murray, the new man of confidence in Toronto.
Caufield had brought some light during the interminable camp with four goals, all four on the power play. The small number 22 continued its momentum from the first meeting by scoring the first two goals for the locals.
Both times, Caufield beat Murray five-for-five with accurate shots into the top of the net.
“I feel good,” Caufield said. When you’re a scorer, you’re always happy to find the back of the net. It’s good to have a good start, but consistency is just as important. With the end of the match, we showed our resilience. »
Good start from Monahan
Acquired from the Flames along with a first-round pick in a transaction that aimed to free up a few million from their payroll, Sean Monahan offered some interesting signs in his first steps in Montreal.
Monahan celebrated his birthday in style by hitting the target in the third period.
Now recovered from hip surgery, Calgary’s former 2013 first-round pick showed he still has gas in his tank.
At least for now.
What we noticed…
THE LAP OF HONOR
There are rituals in the world of hockey. The CH respected an old tradition by asking Juraj Slafkovsky, Kaiden Guhle and Arber Xhekaj to jump on the ice first for a short tour of the ice before the arrival of the other players. The three youngsters participated in their first game in the NHL against the Maple Leafs.
MONAHAN AS AN ALTERNATIVE
At 21, Dach is far from a master in the face-off circle. At 32.8%, he had the worst record among centers in the NHL last year. St-Louis understood that he would need help at the start of the season by betting on Sean Monahan on the left wing of his line. The former Flames took the vast majority of faceoffs (9 in 15). Dach practiced only twice (0 in 2).
ONE CENTIMETER
Kirby Dash wore the Canadiens uniform for the first time. In the second period, the Blackhawks’ third overall pick in the 2019 draft came close to scoring his first goal with his new team. He slid the puck over the corner of the right post, going around Matt Murray’s net. In the video replay, we could see that the puck was still touching the red goal line under Murray’s ribs.
GUHLE IN ACTION
Kaiden Guhle won the confidence of Martin St-Louis and Stéphane Robidas with a very good camp. In his NHL debut, the 20-year-old defenseman looked nothing like a rookie. He played with aplomb alongside David Savard against the Leafs’ first line of Matthews, Marner and Bunting.
+
Cole Caufield
He draws faster than his shadow, much like Lucky Luke Cole Caufield missed the target in the first period on a two-on-one run with Nick Suzuki He redeemed himself with two goals in the following period
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The numerical advantage
It takes a little scratching to find the negative But the Habs did not threaten Murray’s net too much on the power play The CH were shut out on four occasions The Leafs also finished the evening at zero in four on the power play
First period
1-TOR: Michael Bunting (1) (Marner, Brodie)11:41
Penalties: Giordano (Tor) 2:07 Bunting (Tor) 5:37 Sandin (Tor) 12:59 Wideman (Mon) 13:45
Second period
2-MON: Cole Caufield (1) (Suzuki, Savard)0:33
3-TOR: Denis Malgin (1) (Tavares, Nylander)9:06
4-MON: Cole Caufield (2) (unassisted)15:56
Penalties: Pitlick (Mon) 4:02 Kerfoot (Tor) 11:11 Xhekaj (Mon) (penalty shot) 17:20
Third period
5-MON: Sean Monahan (1) (Harris, Dach)17:30
6-TOR: William Nylander (1) (Tavares, Rielly)18:10
7-MON: Josh Anderson (1) (Suzuki)19:42
Penalties: Monahan (Mon) 5:33, Harris (Mon) 14:04
Shoot to the net
TORONTO 8 – 13 – 11 – 32 MONTREAL 8 – 9 – 6 – 23
Guardians:
TOR: Matt Murray (P, 0-1-0), MON: Jake Allen (G, 1-0-0)
Numerical advantages:
TOR: 0 in 4, MON: 0 in 4
Referees:
Jake Brenk, Dan ORourke
Linesmen:
Michel Cormier, Libor Suchanek
ASSISTANCE:
21 105
Cole Caufield
★
Nick Suzuki
★★
Jake Allen
★★★