Recap: Canadiens Win 14th Straight Against Leafs

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The Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens faced off Saturday in a game that had deep playoff implications Saturday night. Despite heading into the game on a 13-game losing streak against the Canadiens, the Maple Leafs came out strong and showed that the past was irrelevant. The Canadiens, however, had a plan of their own. Though the team has struggled as of late, they managed to take the 2-1 lead in the second period before Auston Matthews once again tied the game for the Maple Leafs. The Canadiens ultimately went on to win the game in overtime, topping the Canadiens despite a great effort from Matthews on a breakaway to record the hat trick.

This game not only had implications for the Canadiens and the Maple Leafs but also for the Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers who are all right in the thick of the Atlantic Division playoff race. In the end, the Canadiens managed to earn the two points, increasing the gap between them and the Maple Leafs to three points.

Carey Price was on fire all game, making huge saves to keep his Canadiens team in the game despite being outshot 29-24. The former Hart Trophy winner has played well since the Canadiens made their coaching change from Michel Therrien to Claude Julien. This was the Montreal Canadiens 14th consecutive victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs with the Leafs holding a 0-9-5 record in their last 14 games against the Habs.

First Period

Auston Matthews opened up the scoring in the game with a shot that bounced off of Montreal Canadiens’ defenseman Nikita Nesterov’s skate and past Carey Price. This was Matthews 29th goal of the season, though he wasn’t done there.

 

Second Period

 

The Montreal Canadiens opened the scoring in the second frame with Max Pacioretty scoring his own 29th goal of the season. Pacioretty’s tally came with the man advantage with assists being credited to Alex Galchenyuk and Andrew Shaw.

Alex Galchenyuk, though going through a bit of a rough patch as of late, notched his 13th goal of the season from Nesterov and Nathan Beaulieu at the 16:21 mark of the second period. The former third-overall pick in 2012 had a much needed two-point game that he would certainly like to build on moving forward.

Third Period

Auston Matthews made sure to break the tie between him and Pacioretty by scoring his 30th goal of the season. He became just the third rookie in Maple Leafs history to reach the 30-goal mark. The first two were Wendell Clark with 34 goals in the 1985-86 season and Daniel Marois with 31 goals in the 1988-89 season.

Neither team could tally the go-ahead goal in the third period, and the game needed extra time.

Overtime

Andrew Shaw broke away alone just one minute into the extra frame and scored the game winner off of a feed from Tomas Plekanec.

 

Scoring Summary

FIRST PERIOD

TOR – A. Matthews (29) assisted by J. Gardiner and J. van Riemsdyk

SECOND PERIOD

MTL – M. Pacioretty (29) PP assisted by A. Galchenyuk and A. Shaw

MTL – A. Galchenyuk (13) assisted N.Nesterov and N. Beaulieu

THIRD PERIOD

TOR – A. Matthews (30) assisted by Z. Hyman and W. Nylander

OVERTIME

MTL – A. Shaw (9) assisted by T. Plekanec and A. Markov

THW Three Stars

First: A. Shaw (GWG, assist)

Second: A. Matthews (2 goals)

Third: A. Galchenyuk (goal, assist)

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Up Next:

Toronto Maple Leafs at San Jose Sharks

SAP Center – 10:30 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Feb. 28

Broadcast channels – CSN-CA, SNO

2016-17 Season Series: 

Dec. 13 – Sharks 3 – Maple Leafs 2

Montreal Canadiens at New Jersey Devils

Prudential Center – 7:00 p.m EST on Monday, Feb. 27

Broadcast channels – MSG+, SNE, RDS

2016-17 Season Series: 

Dec. 8 – Devils 2 – Canadiens 5 Jan. 20 – Canadiens 3 – Devils 1

Jan. 20 – Canadiens 3 – Devils 1