2 Canadiens hit milestones in win against Maple Leafs

The Montreal Canadiens have a huge influx of young talent on their roster, and it was on full display against the Toronto Maple Leafs Tuesday night. While this year’s version of the Maple Leafs is not what the Canadiens have been accustomed to facing, it was still a highly motivated contest purely based on the two teams’ historical rivalry.

At least those were the words of the Maple Leafs’ head coach the day before the game. “We got a good chance tomorrow. Montreal’s probably our biggest rival… if you can’t get fired up for that game and come out with some attitude in that game, we gotta get a little uncomfortable right now and get our noses dirty. There’s not a better time to start than tomorrow,” said Craig Berube in an effort to try and motivate his team in a pre-game interview.

The Maple Leafs came to the Bell Centre in hopes of playing spoiler, but Montreal had other plans. The Canadiens took the lead early thanks to Oliver Kapanen finding the back of the net for just his second goal since returning from the Olympic break. The goal was Kapanen’s 20th of the season, tying him for the rookie goal lead with Beckett Sennecke and Matthew Schaefer.

Kapanen is just the second Finnish rookie in Canadiens history to reach the 20-goal mark. The other was Canadiens legend Saku Koivu, who accomplished that feat nearly 30 years ago. Not only was it a personal milestone for Kapanen, notching his first career 20-goal season, but it also added some extra cash to his bank account. The 20-goal plateau netted Kapanen an extra $250,000 thanks to a bonus in his contract. However, this would not be the only milestone the Canadiens would be celebrating that night.

Just under 10 minutes later, Phillip Danault would double the Canadiens' lead. Lane Hutson's assist on the goal gives him the record for most assists by a defenceman in NHL history in their first 150 games. The total is at 116, passing Hall of Famer Sergei Zubov. Hutson broke the record at career game 147, giving him three more games to put the record further out of reach. Many doubted that Hutson’s game would translate so easily to the NHL, but that has not stopped him from breaking records in his first two seasons.

William Nylander cut the Canadiens’ lead to one late in the second period, but that was all the offence they could muster up in the game. Jake Evans put the game away with an empty-net goal with 30 seconds remaining, moving the Canadiens back above the Detroit Red Wings for third in the Atlantic Division.

The Canadiens will be looking to keep the momentum going on the second night of a back-to-back against another divisional rival, the Ottawa Senators. The Canadiens will have a different face backstopping them in goal, with recently recalled Jacob Fowler getting the start. After a night where the youngsters led the way, Montreal will now look for a strong performance from what they hope is their future number-one goaltender.