MONTREAL – With 6:46 remaining in the third period, John Tavares scored the winning goal, securing a 3-2 victory for the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night at Bell Centre.
Max Domi and Bobby McMann also scored for Toronto (37-19-8) as they recovered from a 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Thursday.
Ilya Samsonov stopped 29 shots.
Mike Matheson, with a goal and an assist, and Alex Newhook scored for Montreal (24-30-10), which had lost four of its last five games. Juraj Slafkovsky contributed with two assists.
Sam Montembeault made 24 saves.
Key Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner missed his first game of the season due to a lower-body injury sustained on Thursday, which led to head coach Sheldon Keefe rearranging his lines.
Defenceman Joel Edmundson, who played for the Canadiens from 2020 to 2023, and forward Connor Deward made their debuts for the Maple Leafs after being acquired before Friday’s trade deadline.
This was the first matchup between the two long-time rivals since the Maple Leafs completed a late comeback to defeat the Canadiens 6-5 in a shootout to open the season on Oct. 11 in Toronto.
Supporters of both teams turned out in large numbers, with competing chants of “Go Leafs Go!” and “Go Habs Go!” throughout the evening.
Trailing 2-1 going into the third period, the Canadiens equalized 5:05 into the period with a power-play goal from Newhook, whose wrist shot beat Samsonov off the post and in on his far side.
However, the Maple Leafs took the lead again after Jake McCabe’s shot hit Montembeault’s pad and ricocheted off Tavares in front of the net.
Toronto forward Calle Jarnkrok was penalized for tripping with three minutes left, resulting in a power play for Montreal.
With two minutes remaining, the Canadiens pulled the goalie for an extra attacker but didn’t create many opportunities despite spending a significant amount of time in the Maple Leafs zone.
After Jarnkrok's penalty expired, Slafkovsky had one good chance with a shot that grazed the post. That was as close as Montreal came to forcing overtime.
At the start, Matheson thrilled the home fans by scoring 38 seconds into the game with a spectacular goal that energized the Bell Centre.
Cole Caufield received a pass across the ice from Slafkovsky in open space along the right side of Toronto’s zone before skillfully setting up Matheson, who maneuvered to the backhand around Samsonov’s left pad for his ninth goal.
Following an otherwise uneventful first period that included a delay to replace a glass panel and errors from both sides, the intensity increased in the second period for both teams.
This time, Toronto scored early in the period as McMann scored an equalizer 39 seconds in after taking advantage of a mishandled puck by Arber Xhekaj at the blue line and firing a shot past Montembeault.
Montreal's Josh Anderson nearly put his team back in the lead minutes later but hit the post with his shot.
Both teams took penalties in the increasingly feisty game. During four-on-four play, top scorer Auston Matthews had two consecutive shots from the slot stopped by Montembeault.
Matthews didn't score in the game, so he still has 54 goals in 63 games this season.
Domi put Toronto in the lead with 1:19 remaining in the second period. Jarnkrok passed from the defensive zone to Domi, who was speeding through the neutral zone. The former Hab got past a couple defenders and scored his eighth goal.
There were changes in the lineup.
Canadiens forward Michael Pezzetta played for the first time since Feb. 17 (after being a healthy scratch), replacing winger Jesse Ylonen for the Original Six matchup.
Edmundson and Dewar made their debuts, while defencemen Conor Timmins and Simon Benoit and forward Noah Gregor, as well as the injured Marner, didn't play for Toronto.
UP NEXT
Canadiens will have a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.
Maple Leafs will finish a three-game road trip on Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers.
This report by The Canadian Press was originally published on March 9, 2024.
