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MONTREAL – The Toronto Maple Leafs won both NHL preseason games against the Montreal Canadiens, bringing home a physical 2-1 victory at the Center Bell on Saturday night.
“The group was involved and they’re competing out there, it was a really tough game,” Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said. “I don’t really do much; they just go and play. They are smart guys, they know what they are 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 caused the crowd to fall silent abruptly as newly acquired forward Patrik Laine collided with the Leafs’ Cédric Paré and Jacob Quillan in what appeared to be a knee-on-knee hit. are. Laine did not return to the match.
The injury led to retaliation from Arber Including an earlier injury to David Reinbacher, the Canadiens were short three players after less than five minutes.
“It was a very emotional first period and certainly set the tone for the rest of the match. You are down to seventeen players and you have a very short bench,” said Montreal head coach Martin St. Louis. “You don’t want to overload your players, but you are almost forced to do so.”
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Toronto took advantage of the man advantage when Robertson’s shot squeezed past netminder Samuel Montembeault. Throughout the remainder of the first frame, the Maple Leafs defense shined, killing three penalties and scoring few dangerous chances.
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The Maple Leafs penalty kill last season left a lot to be desired, but this performance showed a concise 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 a really good job on the penalty kick to close them down and not give them too many chances,” said Matthew Knies.
“It’s just constant pressure. I don’t think we let them prepare properly and if they saw something, we never let them get a good chance out of it.”
Montreal started the second period with renewed enthusiasm and put more effort into pre-control. Rivalry and animosity took the spotlight, however, as the period following almost every whistle and two fights was littered with scrums, leading to 73 penalty minutes between both teams at the end of the second frame.
“I think we did a good job of sticking together and taking care of each other,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said. “I think once we started playing five-on-five we got a lot better.
“The flow of the game was just very choppy, so once we got to five-on-five we showed a lot of good things.”
Toronto closed the door in the Canadiens’ face 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 progressive play, taking their speed to the Canadiens defenders and finding enough space to double their lead. After a quick break, Robertson found himself alone with the netminder, firing another shot from a difficult angle but finding the five-hole.
“It’s not just the goals, it’s Robertson’s efforts and the way he played. I thought his work ethic was excellent and his competitiveness,” Berube said. “He’s made some good decisions with the puck and hopefully he can score some goals for us.”
Montreal thought they had found the answer less than a minute later, but Cole Caufield was denied by an excellent save from Dennis Hildeby.
As the goaltender was signed, the Canadiens continued to pile on the pressure to find a way back into the game. They scored with less than two minutes to play after a smooth passing left Dach with a wide open net, cutting the deficit to one.
However, it was too little too late for the home team as the Maple Leafs held on to seal the victory.
NEXT
Maple Leafs: Visit the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday.
Canadiens: Host the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 28, 2024.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
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