Maple Leafs defeat Canadiens in OT, end losing streak

MONTREAL --Auston Matthews scored his second goal of the game at 48 seconds of overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 4-3 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Saturday.

Matthews shot past Carey Price on an odd-man rush for his fifth goal to end Toronto's 14-game losing streak (0-9-5) against Montreal. It was the Maple Leafs' first win against the Canadiens since a 5-3 victory at Air Canada Centre on Jan. 18, 2014.

WATCH: [All Maple Leafs vs. Canadiens highlights]
"It's always a hostile environment when we come in here, and it's obviously a great atmosphere, so to come out with two points, it's what we came here to do and we're going to take it and move on here," said Matthews, who leads Toronto with eight points (five goals, three assists) in five games.

James van Riemsdyk and Patrick Marleau scored for the Maple Leafs (4-1-0), who matched their best start since 2013-14. Frederik Andersen made 31 saves, including 13 in the third period and one in overtime.
"Anytime you come in here you're playing [Price], he's the best there is in the League," Toronto coach Mike Babcock said. "It's great to look down the rink at him and you've got to beat him one on one. You've got to be better than him if you're going to win, so I thought [Andersen] did a good job tonight."
Jonathan Drouin scored his first Montreal goal and had an assist for the first multipoint game by a Canadiens player this season. Jeff Petry and Alex Galchenyuk scored for Montreal (1-3-1), which scored four goals in its first four games and has lost four straight. Price made 18 saves.

"We'll take the point," Drouin said. "We'd rather have two, but I think we're heading in the right direction. Scoring three goals is a good step offensively, but we still have some things to work on."
The Canadiens last started 1-3-1 in 2011-12.
Drouin gave Montreal a 3-2 lead at 11:33 of the second period.
Marleau tied it at 3-3 with his third goal at 12:40. The goal was initially waved off, but a video review confirmed the puck had crossed the goal line.
Petry gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 2:19 of the first period. He skated into the Maple Leafs' zone to take a pass from Drouin at the right point and one-timed a slap shot past Andersen and inside the left post.
Van Riemsdyk drew the Maple Leafs even at 1-1 at 7:32 with his fourth goal, a shot off a faceoff win by Tyler Bozak.

Matthews put Toronto ahead 2-1 and extended his point streak to five games with his fourth goal at 8:16.
Galchenyuk tied it at 2-2 at 16:49 with Montreal's first power-play goal in 15 opportunities this season.

Goal of the game

Matthews took a pass from William Nylander before going in to score his second overtime goal in three games. "I was kind of contemplating changing but I didn't want to give up a 3-on-2," Matthews said. "So (Andersen) made a huge save and we just kind of turned it back the other way and [Nylander] made an unbelievable pass to me and I was able to sink it in."

Save of the game

Andersen squared himself to make the save on Canadiens center Tomas Plekanec's shot from the left circle at 11:42 of the third period to keep it tied 3-3.

Highlight of the game

Drouin used his backhand to redirect Karl Alzner's slap pass from the left point past Andersen. "It's always a good feeling to score, either on the road or at home, but it doesn't matter as much when you lose the game," Drouin said.

They said it

"I'm so used to it by now. He's so good at finding those seams and making those types of passes, so for myself, I just need to make sure I'm ready because I know the puck's coming."-- Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews about William Nylander's pass to set up his overtime goal
"I thought that might have been our best game of the year. We played very well and, unfortunately, I didn't have my best game of the year, so I think if I would have played better we would be looking at this a different way." -- Canadiens goalie Carey Price

Need to know

It was the Maple Leafs' first victory in Montreal in four years. Toronto was 0-6-2 in its previous eight games at Bell Centre since a 4-3 win on Oct. 1, 2013. ... Matthews had a goal waved off 19 seconds before Drouin scored. A video review confirmed that he made contact with the puck with a high stick. ... Maple Leafs defenseman Connor Carrick returned after missing two games because of an upper-body injury. ... Montreal was 1-for-2 on the power play, and is 1-for-16 through five games.

What's next

Maple Leafs: At the Washington Capitals on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSWA, TSN4, NHL.TV)
Canadiens: At the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV)