The Canadian concluded his introductory video for the new season with the question: what will happen tonight? The answer had enough to delight the supporters.
Josh Anderson hit the target late in the game and the Montreal squad defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on Wednesday night at the Bell Centre.
It was the first time since the 2013-2014 campaign that the Canadiens started the season in front of their supporters.
Anderson was the hero, scoring with 18.4 seconds left on the clock. He took advantage of a short pass from Nick Suzuki, then beat Matt Murray to the mitt side.
Until then, Cole Caufield had led the offensive side of the Habs. He needed 31 games to score two goals last winter. This time, he had two goals on the clock after two periods.
Sean Monahan also hit the target for the Canadian (1-0-0). Suzuki had two assists and Jake Allen stopped 29 shots.
Michael Bunting, Denis Malgin and William Nylander replied for the Maple Leafs (0-1-0). John Tavares had two assists and Murray made 19 saves.
The Canadiens had five rookies in their roster, forward Juraj Slafkovsky and defenders Kaiden Guhle, Arber Xhekaj, Jordan Harris and Johnathan Kovacevic. Slafkovsky, Guhle and Xhekaj were even in their first game in the NHL.
The Canadian will be back in action on Friday when he visits the Detroit Red Wings. He will then be in Washington on Saturday, where he will face the Capitals.
A good show
After a somewhat long ceremony during which head coach Martin St-Louis and goaltender with a more than uncertain future Carey Price received the most beautiful ovations, the Habs repelled with conviction the first assaults of the Maple Leafs .
It took a nice throwback from Mitch Marner to Bunting for the Leafs to open the scoring after 11:41 of play.
The Habs knocked on the door late in the first period, but Caufield missed the target after a perfect pass from Suzuki on a two-on-one attack.
Suzuki’s pass to Caufield on a similar streak early in the second period was less accurate, but the sniper took his time and beat Murray 33 seconds into the game.
Auston Matthews came close to putting the Maple Leafs ahead on the power play, but his shot hit the crossbar.
Instead, it was Malgin who put the Leafs up 2-1 after 9:06 of play in the second period. He took advantage of a perfect staging by Tavares to push the disc into an open net.
Malgin returned to the charge moments later, escaping past Allen. His shot, however, hit the post.
Caufield tied the game again at 15:56 of the middle period. After a turnover at the Canadiens’ blue line, Caufield orchestrated a three-on-two counterattack. The American didn’t break his head and his precise shot didn’t give Murray a chance.
Kirby Dach thought for a moment that he might have given the Habs the lead with 2:50 to go in the second period. He tried to outspeed Murray by going around the net. The replays showed that the puck never crossed the goal line.
Xhekaj was trapped a second time during the period and Alexander Kerfoot escaped 10 seconds after play resumed. Xhekaj then hooked his rival and the referees awarded him a penalty shot which Allen stopped .
Monahan broke the deadlock with 2:30 left in regulation, but the party was cut short at the Bell Center as Nylander replied 40 seconds later.
The celebrations kicked off again when Anderson played the heroes.