MONTREAL – The Canadiens set the tone early and battled hard throughout the night but ultimately fell short in a 3-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre on Saturday.
Montreal went up 38 seconds into the game when Cole Caufield fed Mike Matheson, who went forehand backhand before sliding it into an empty cage for the early 1-0 lead.
The Leafs matched the Habs' quick start in the first, scoring 39 seconds into the middle frame to tie the game 1-1, courtesy of Bobby McMann. Then later in the second, Max Domi gave the visitors the lead heading into the intermission.
Just past the five-minute mark of the final stanza, Alex Newhook regained level ground for Montreal on the power play, but with 6:46 to go, John Tavares restored the Leafs’ advantage and Toronto held on from there.
Samuel Montembeault made 24 saves in his 30th start of the season.
For more stats, check out the NHL’s Gamecenter summary here.
Michael Pezzetta returned to the Habs’ 12-man forward unit against his hometown team, in place of Jesse Ylönen.
Roster
