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RECAP | Canadiens – Maple Leafs: Habs Squander Three-goal Lead

Montreal Canadiens vs Toronto Maple Leafs Game Recap: Line-up, Score, Statistics, Highlights, Post-game, Three-Stars

FINAL | Game 62, Away Game 29 | Saturday February 23, 2019
Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, ON

CANADIENS

Montreal

3-6

MAPLE LEAFS

Toronto

Canadiens Lineup

Forward lines

Tomas Tatar – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher

Paul Byron – Max Domi – Andrew Shaw

Artturi Lehkonen – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Joel Armia 

Nicolas Deslauriers – Nate Thompson – Matthew Peca

Defense pairings

Victor Mete – Shea Weber

Mike Reilly – Jeff Petry

Brett Kulak – Jordie Benn

Goaltenders

Carey Price – Antti Niemi

Scratches

Christian Folin, Charles Hudon, Jonathan Drouin (flu)

Injuries

none

Game Report

The Canadiens couldn’t have asked for a better start to the game scoring three times in the first period. The woeful Montreal power-play even got on the board with Jeff Petry scoring his 11th goal of the season. The Habs outshot Toronto 20-10 in the opening frame.

Post-game Brendan Gallagher identified the turning point of the game: two Toronto power-play goals in the second period. Not the penalties themselves but the Canadiens inability to kill them off.

Claude Julien said something similar when he came to the podium. Despite numerous opportunities to clear the puck while down a man, the penalty-killers failed.

Gallagher conceded that once the game was tied 3-3, Toronto was the better team. Julien didn’t like the blind turnover from Phillip Danault either in the third period that handed the Leafs the winning goal.

The Canadiens gave up six unanswered goals (two empty-netters) after opening the game with a 3-0 lead. It’s unacceptable at this time of the year and unacceptable for a team expecting to make the playoffs.

Remember that four-game test not too long ago against the league’s contenders? We figured out quite quickly that the Canadiens aren’t among that group. The folks from Montreal are more than one piece away.

And they don’t measure up too well against Toronto in the coaching department either.

So unless Marc Bergevin is going to follow in the footsteps of Jarmo Kekäläinen, and swing for the fences prior to Monday at 3 p.m., this loss should not alter the plan. Canadiens management should already have a realistic appraisal of their hockey team. 

We’re constantly told that Bergevin is one of the most active general managers on the phones. He showed interest in Cam Fowler, even personally taking in some games. Now it seems that Anaheim will hold on to their defenceman.

It was rumoured that Montreal was one of three teams to be in on Matt Duchene but we know how that turned out with Columbus making the winning bid.

Today it was reported that Bergevin was in attendance to scout the New York Rangers – New Jersey Devils game. Rangers announced that Mats Zuccarello, Kevin Hayes and Adam McQuaid wouldn’t be in the lineup. Zuccarello was dealt to the Dallas Stars a short time later.

Given the raised expectations, will Habs fans be suitably “entertained” if the total haul by Bergevin ends up being Nate Thompson, Dale Weise and Christian Folin?

Plus / Minus

▲  Carey Price, Tomas Tatar, Jeff Petry

▼  Victor Mete, Nicolas Deslauriers, Matthew Peca, Joel Armia, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Artturi Lehkonen

The Numbers

 Game Statistics 
CANADIENS   MAPLE LEAFS
35 Shots 37
55 Face-off % 45
1-for-4 Power Play 2-for-2
4 Penalty Minutes 8
27 Hits 15
58 Corsi For 51
 Scoring Summary
 FINAL 1 2 3 OT SO T
 Canadiens (33-22-7) 3 0 0 3
 Maple Leafs (37-20-4) 0 2 4 6
Scorers Goalies
  • MTL: Shaw (13), Tatar (21), Petry (11)-PPG
  • TOR: Matthews (29)-PPG, Ennis (8)-PPG, Nylander (4), Hyman (12), Johnsson (17), Hyman (13)
  • MTL: Price (L) 25-17-5
  • TOR: Andersen (W) 28-13-3

Stars of the Game

 NHL Official Three Stars
  1. Zach Hyman  TOR
  2. William Nylander  TOR
  3. Jeff Petry  MTL

Watch

 Video Highlights 

What Did They Say?

 Post-game Quotes
Claude Julien  
  • “We tightened up. We froze even in the third period when we had a one-goal lead. It’s a matter of going out and playing on our toes like we did at the start of the game. We couldn’t even make a play; I don’t know why, but we need to learn to manage these situations much better than we have.”
Brendan Gallagher
  • “We’ve been through enough adversity as a group; we should understand how to handle it but tonight we failed. Tonight, we didn’t do a good enough job. You get up 3-0, you should come out with a win.”

Shea Weber

  • “They’re good; you never want to give up goals on the penalty kill. They’re tops in the League for a reason. I know they struggled for a little bit, but they’ve got a lot of talent and guys who can make plays.”

Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews

  • “Big night for the power play for us to get back in it and then we just kind of chipped away. Coming out with two points in a big game for us.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

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