For the second time in a row, the Canadian paid dearly for his few mistakes.
Michael Bunting scored two goals, Joseph Woll stopped 29 shots and the Toronto Maple Leafs won 5-1 against the Montreal club on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena.
The Habs suffered a brief downturn in a 6-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. This time, his opponent simply showed more opportunism than him in a hotly contested match.
Pierre Engvall had a goal and an assist, while William Nylander and David Kampf also scored for the Maple Leafs (34-14-8). Auston Matthews and Rasmus Sandin each had two assists.
Josh Anderson was the Canadian’s only scorer (23-29-4). Jake Allen made 35 saves.
Defender Corey Schueneman was playing his first game with the Canadiens after being recalled from the Laval Rocket earlier in the day. Chris Wideman gave him his place in the training.
Center Kirby Dach has missed a second game in a row with a virus unrelated to COVID-19.
The Canadian will present its traditional skills competition Sunday morning at the Bell Centre. He will play his next game on Tuesday, when he visits the New Jersey Devils.
The cream rises
Acquired the day before from the St. Louis Blues along with Noel Acciari, Ryan O’Reilly knocked on the door on his first appearance at bat. Allen, however, delivered and frustrated the newcomer.
The first period was the affair of the two goalkeepers. Allen stopped 16 shots, while Woll made 13 saves.
The story was different in the second period, when four goals were scored.
Anderson got the ball rolling 42 seconds into the game, deflecting a Mike Matheson shot into the goal.
The Maple Leafs replied at 5:32 on the power play. Bunting scored his first goal of the game on a one-timer following a pass from Matthews.
Woll preserved the tie by frustrating Mike Hoffman on a two-on-one attack.
Engvall then put the Maple Leafs ahead with 6:40 left in the second period. His shot snuck under Allen’s right arm.
The Maple Leafs threatened again on the power play late in the second period. Allen did, however, make some fine saves against Nylander and Mitchell Marner.
However, Bunting came back with 1:40 to go. He hit the mark again with a one-timer throw.
Nylander then stunned the Habs by moving the ropes after 3:47 of play in the third period.
The Canadian did not give up afterwards, but he was unable to create enough chances in attack to hope for a miracle.
Kampf turned the iron in the wound by scoring with 5:07 remaining in the game.