Montreal Canadiens: The Five Goals That Kept Habs Out of Draft Lottery

October 5th: Jeff Petry vs Toronto Maple Leafs, 6:58 to play in the 3rd Period

The Canadiens first Saturday night game of the season proved to be one of the most memorable games of the year. The Habs started their season by falling behind the Carolina Hurricanes 2-0 in their opening contest but then came back to take a 3-2 lead before losing 4-3 in overtime. That was nothing compared to their second game.

Once again the Habs fell behind, but this time it was 4-1 in the third period. No one blows a 4-1 third period lead… oh yeah, except the Leafs!

Two quick goals by Jonathan Drouin and Brendan Gallagher brought the Canadiens within one, but it was Jeff Petry who would tie the game. With the Habs on a power play pushing for the tying goal, Petry fired a shot from the point. It was blocked by Kasperi Kapanen, but the Leafs winger broke his stick in the process. So, he decided to throw the stick at Petry, who had regained control of the puck.

This led to the Canadiens blue liner getting a penalty shot and he made no mistake, pulling the Habs even with the Leafs with just under seven minutes to play. Paul Byron would eventually score the shootout winner while Carey Price stopped $30 million worth of players as John Tavares, Auston Matthew and Mitch Marner were all turned aside.

With the game 4-1 Leafs in the third period, it seemed certain the Habs would leave the game with zero points. However, a furious comeback, and Petry tying the game on a penalty shot, would lead to the Habs getting a shootout victory.