In the 769th meeting between the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Canadiens beat the Leafs 1-0, thanks to a 48-save performance by Goaltender Sam Montembeault. This was the first time Toronto had been shut out since Nov. 21, 2021, snapping a streak of 252 games with at least one goal. Both teams will be back at it tonight, with the Leafs heading to New Jersey and the Canadiens heading to Boston. Will the Canadiens be able to follow up their performance this evening?
Montembeault, Caufield Will the Habs To a 1-0 Start
No one does an opening ceremony like the Bell Centre and that was on full display on Wednesday night. The Canadiens players and staff were welcomed to the ice by an 18-piece orchestra and a rock band playing Coldplay’s “Fix You.” The Montreal Canadiens faithful were the loudest for injured star Patrik Laine, who was emotional by the serenade of cheers.
All of that set the scene for a historically good night for Montembeault. His 48 saves were the most ever in an opening night shutout, and the second most saves by a Canadiens goalie in a shutout. The record is held by Jacques Plante, who had a 52-save shutout against the Blackhawks in 1955.
“Those are the kind of situations you want to be in,” Montembeault said of his performance. “Last year, it happened a few times, we were leading by a goal and then we lost it and they came back. — We didn’t force anything in the third, we just played the game that was in front of us and I think the guys did a great job.” Cole Caufield scored a power play goal in the first period, which ended up being all that the home team needed. Caufield now has 11 goals in 14 games against Toronto, which is the most he has scored against any team.
New-Look Leafs Come Up Short In Great Effort
It was the first game for the coach and five players, and at times it looked like it. All in all, it was a strong performance, and sometimes you just get beat by a good goaltender. Coach Berube had the same sentiment. “When you almost get 50 shots on net and you don’t get a goal, their goalie played well,” Berube said of Wednesday night. “But I was happy with our effort. The guys battled, worked, Stolarz was really good in net. A lot of good things, but we’ve got to find a way to finish better.”
Matthews and Marner led the team with six shots, Knies had five, and Lorentz and Tavares each had four. Toronto had 48 recorded shots, but the Canadiens blocked another 25 that never hit the net. The Leafs were 0-for-4 with the man advantage while allowing only one goal on five penalties.
Final Thoughts
Overall it was a strong showing for the blue and white. The style Berube wants to play is much different from the east-west style they’ve had under Coach Keefe. Berube’s teams have a heavy forecheck and fewer cross-rink plays. More north-south. It was raw, but you could see it in motion.
Similar to the playoffs, much has been made about the goaltending, but it’s the goal-scoring that let them down. Goaltender Anthony Stolarz made the surprise start after Joe Woll was placed on injured reserve. He stopped 26 of 27 shots, and had some beautiful saves keeping it a 1-0 game. Rookie netminder may get his first NHL start Thursday night in New Jersey since the Leafs play three games in four nights to start the season.
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