(Montreal) The Canadian started the home stretch of the season by offering a good battle to his eternal rivals.
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John Tavares, however, broke the deadlock in the third period and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal club 3-2 on Saturday evening at the Bell Centre.
The day after the end of the trading period, the Canadiens players played with confidence. The day before, general manager Kent Hughes had been conservative, trading only veteran goaltender Jake Allen in hopes of keeping a good group of point guards to surround his young core.
The Maple Leafs, however, had a little more luck, as Tavares took advantage of a favorable jump to score the goal that made the difference.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Cole Caufield and Timothy Liljegren
Mike Matheson had a goal and an assist, while Alex Newhook also scored for the Canadian (24-30-10). Juraj Slafkovsky had two assists and Samuel Montembeault stopped 24 shots.
Max Domi had a goal and an assist, while Bobby McMann was the other scorer for the Maple Leafs (37-19-8). Ilya Samsonov made 29 saves.
Forward Michael Pezzetta was inserted into the Canadian’s lineup. Jesse Ylönen gave way to him.
The Maple Leafs were without forward Mitch Marner with a lower body injury.
Acquired before the end of the trade period, defenseman Joel Edmundson and forward Connor Dewar played their first game with the Maple Leafs.
The Canadian will play his next game on Tuesday, when the Columbus Blue Jackets are the visitors at the Bell Centre.
A close battle
Matheson opened the scoring just 38 seconds into the first period. The Canadian defender completed a great sequence started by Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield. Samsonov was wrong-footed and Matheson just had to push the disc into a gaping cage.
The first period was interrupted for around ten minutes when a portion of the bay window of the door to the visitors’ penalty box broke.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Samuel Montembeault
Once play resumed, Samsonov had to be vigilant to keep the Maple Leafs in the game.
At the other end of the ice, Montembeault made his best save of the period against William Nylander, who was charging his net.
McMann tied the game 1-1 by scoring 39 seconds into the second period.
Canadian defenseman Arber Xhekaj was guilty of a turnover at the opposing blue line, allowing McMann to orchestrate a two-on-one attack. The Maple Leafs forward beat Montembeault with a sharp shot from the side of the shield.
Anderson came close to responding about a minute into the game. His shot, however, hit the post.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Max Domi scored a breakaway goal.
Domi gave the Maple Leafs the lead with 1:19 left in the second period. He was able to escape thanks to a long delivery from Calle Jarnkrok after a turnover by Brendan Gallagher in the visitors’ zone. His shot barely slipped through Montembeault’s equipment.
Newhook brought everyone back to square one by scoring on the power play 5:05 into the final period. He was able to advance towards the net with the puck and surprised Samsonov on the side of the shield.
Tavares gave the visitors the lead again with 6:46 remaining. Montembeault stopped a powerful shot from Jake McCabe. However, the return reached Tavares before crossing the goal line.
The Habs obtained a numerical advantage at the end of the third period, but Samsonov resisted the last assaults of the local club.