Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.
MONTREAL – The Toronto Maple Leafs have won two NHL preseason games against the Montreal Canadiens, bringing home a physical 2-1 victory Saturday night at the Center Bell.
“The group was involved and they compete out there, it was a very hard game,” said Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube. “I’m not really doing much – they’re going to play. They’re smart guys they know what they’re doing.”
Nicholas Robertson scored twice for the Maple Leafs, while Kirby Dach scored Montreal’s lone goal late in the third period.
Less than four minutes into the game, the raucous Center Bell suddenly quieted down as new forward Patrik Laine collided with the Leafs’ Cédric Paré and Jacob Quillan in what appeared to be a headbutt. -knee-on-knee. Laine did not return to the game.
The injury sparked revenge from Arber Xhekaj whose actions had led to a game misconduct, leaving the Canadiens with a seven-minute penalty to kill. Including an earlier injury to David Reinbacher, the Canadiens were three players short after less than five minutes.
“It was a very emotional first period and definitely set the tone for the rest of the game. You’re down to 17 players and you have a very short bench,” said Montreal head coach Martin St Louis. “You don’t want to overwork your players, but you’re almost forced to.”
Toronto took advantage of the man advantage when Robertson squeezed a shot past netminder Samuel Montembeault. For the rest of the first frame, the Maple Leafs defense shined, killing three penalties and giving up almost no dangerous chances.
Last season’s Maple Leafs penalty kill left a lot to be desired, but this performance showed a compact and organized block that was perfect all night.
“It was a special teams battle from the start of the game, and I think we executed. We scored a goal on the power play and we did really well on the (penalty kill) to shut them down and not give them too many chances,” said Matthew Knies.
“It’s just constant pressure. I think we didn’t let them set up well and if they saw something, we never let them get a good chance from it.”
Montreal started the second period with renewed enthusiasm, committing more to the forecheck. However, competition and animosity highlighted the period full of scrums after almost every whistle and two contests, leading to 73 penalty minutes between the two teams by the end of the second frame.
“I think we did a good job sticking together and taking care of each other,” said Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki. “I think once we started playing five-on-five, we looked a lot better.
“The flow of the game was very rough so once we got to five-on-five we showed a lot of good things.”
Toronto shut the door on the Canadiens once during the period, allowing nine shots but killing three penalties including a dangerous four-on-three to maintain a 1-0 lead at the second intermission.
The Maple Leafs started the third period with much more forward play, taking their pace to the Canadiens defenders and finding enough space to double their lead. After a quick break out, Robertson found himself alone with the net, firing a shot once again from a difficult angle but finding the five hole.
“Not only the goals, (Robertson’s) effort and the way he played. I thought his work ethic was excellent and his competitiveness,” said Berube. “He made good decisions with the puck and hopefully he can get us a couple of goals.”
Montreal thought they had found an answer less than a minute later, but Cole Caufield was denied by a great save from Dennis Hildeby.
With the goalie removed the Canadiens continued to pile on the pressure to find a way back into the game. They got it with less than two minutes to play after a slick passing play left Dach with a wide open net, cutting the deficit to one.
It was too little too late for the home team though as the Maple Leafs held on to seal the win.
UP NEXT
Maple Leafs: Visit the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday.
Canadiens: Host the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on September 28, 2024.
(Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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