CANADIENS
Montreal

MAPLE LEAFS
Toronto

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings 

[one_half]Pacioretty – Danault – Radulov
Lehkonen – Plekanec – Andrighetto
Carr – Mitchell – Flynn
Farnham – McCarron – Scherbak
[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Emelin – Weber
Beaulieu – Petry
Barberio – Johnston
[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders

Price
Montoya

Scratches

Paul Byron, Chris Terry, Zach Redmond

Injured Reserve

Alex Galchenyuk (knee), David Desharnais (knee), Greg Pateryn (ankle), Andrew Shaw (concussion), Andrei Markov (lower body)

Game Report

The sick bay in Montreal is at full capacity. On Saturday night, the Habs entered the game with seven players who have spent time this season in the AHL. Fortunately, they were facing a goaltender playing well below NHL caliber.

The new look Leafs are young, quick and dynamic. They played a free-flowing game displaying highlight reel skill. For a good part of the game they dominated possession.

With all the injuries, the Canadiens had an injection of youthful exuberance themselves from the St. John’s call-ups. But the deciding factor in this game was the way the Habs were able to take advantage of Frederik Andersen. The Maple Leafs goaltender was guilty of giving up at least three very soft goals in this game. 

At the other end Carey Price had to be very good, particularly in the third period where he stopped all 15 of the shots that he faced. Swap goaltenders and this one would have be a rout for the Leafs.

Toronto has dropped 13 straight contests to the Canadiens. But the tide is about to turn on the current lopsided state of the rivalry. The Maple Leafs have a budding dominant superstar in Auston Matthews. And there is considerable talent potential in the supporting cast as well.

Behind the bench, the Leafs have one of the best in the business. This is the area that the Canadiens aren’t even in the same universe. Over multiple hires, they continue to troll at the bottom of the barrel for their bench boss. 

There is reason for optimism on the Canadiens side. Nikita Scherbak burst out of the gate with a power-play goal with his first shot in the NHL. Michael McCarron earned respect by dropping the gloves with heavyweight Matt Martin while picking up his first goal of the season as well. Artturi Lehkonen continued a fine road trip by picking up his eighth goal of the season.

But it was the veterans that carried the mail in this game starting with Price. Shea Weber had two assists and led the team with five shots on goal. Weber and Alexei Emelin were solid on the back end once again. Max Pacioretty, Alexander Radulov and Jeff Petry provided the rest of the offence.

The Canadiens will make a pit stop at home with a game against the Capitals on Monday before departing for two more road games this week.

~~~

▲     Carey Price, Max Pacioretty, Shea Weber, Alexei Emelin, Jeff Petry, Alexander Radulov, Artturi Lehkonen, Mike McCarron, Nikita Scherbak

▼     Mark Barberio, Ryan Johnston, Phillip Danault

1.  Alexander Radulov  MTL
2.  Mitch Marner  TOR
3.  Max Pacioretty  MTL

• “The guys showed up to play, but they also showed up physically, too. They all appreciated the fact that everyone was willing to go to war. The team showed great work ethic and great determination. It takes a lot of character to continue fighting through all of these injuries. They did a remarkable job.”

Shea Weber

• “I think everybody in here would do that for both of our goalies. We want to make sure that we take care of them. They’re a big part of our team. If anyone gets hit in here, guys are going to step up for them. We’re a tight team. We stand up for one another.”

Michael McCarron

• “We weren’t going to back down. We came out and played hard. We knew that they played [the night before] and we wanted to jump on them early and I think that’s what we did.”
• “It’s good knowing that [even if] we have some of our top guys out, that we’re continuing to get points. That’s what we’re here for and that’s what we’ve got to continue to do and work hard.”

Nikita Scherbak

• “I couldn’t even dream about that. Honestly, I only dreamed to step on the ice in my first NHL game, and I scored a goal. It’s amazing,”
• “It felt good [being out there]. I was a little bit nervous in the first period, but after that I got more confident. I think the pace was pretty good. Toronto is a pretty fast team. We kept the pace for 60 minutes with them. It was good.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com