The Toronto Maple Leafs are the perfect test for the Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens will face the Toronto Maple Leafs in an exhibition game, and it’s the perfect matchup ahead of the Stanley Cup Qualifier.

The NHL is currently taking part in training camp ahead of the resumption of the 2019-20 season. Thankfully, teams aren’t going to be thrown directly into these high-stakes series right off the bat as the league announced exhibition games for the Stanley Cup Qualifier, and as fate would have it, the Montreal Canadiens are going to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs.

It looks as if the league was going for a rivalry theme for all their exhibition games. The Philadelphia Flyers are facing the Pittsburgh Penguins while the Edmonton Oilers are playing the Calgary Flames on that July 28th date as well.

Seeing as how teams are only getting one practice game, it’s a perfect match for the Habs to face the Leafs. Those rivalry games have brought out the best in Montreal, and the hatred between clubs is an excellent way to trigger that playoff energy before the Qualifier begins.

One of the Habs’ biggest wins came against the Leafs at the end of February. There wasn’t any scoring until the third period with John Tavares getting his 23rd of the season while Marco Scandella scored his first and only goal with the Montreal Canadiens with less than three minutes left in regulation. Then a blundered slap shot by Tyson Barrie resulted in Ilya Kovalchuk‘s overtime winner and energetic celebration to the crowd at Bell Centre.

The Montreal Canadiens also got the best of the Leafs in their two previous outings, so they should feel good heading into this one even though those wins came before things were south.

There is another reason as to why this is the perfect preparation match for the Habs. The makeup of the Leafs is similar to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

They have two superstar centres, a decent blueline and found themselves this season relying on their goaltending to win. The big difference is the number of key injuries they’ve had this season. Pittsburgh finished 13th in goals-for, and they can hold injuries to Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jake Guentzel to that “low rating.”

Both the Leafs and the Penguins have offensive weapons who can turn a game around in an instant, and the Montreal Canadiens can use this exhibition game to prepare for that. The big difference is that there is a lot more experience on the latter squad. This team won back-to-back Stanley Cups and no how to effectively toggle between high-octane offence and conservative defence when the situation presents itself.

Can Phillip Danault and Nick Suzuki contain an Auston Matthews (Crosby) and John Tavares (Malkin), respectively? Can Jesperi Kotkaniemi push through and generate on the third line while the two top lines handle each other? Can Carey Price compensate for the team’s defensive blunders and make those key saves?

This exhibition game against the Toronto Maple Leafs is all about confidence and establishing a place in the sand. Claude Julien will likely be preaching similar comparables ahead of the matchup, and even if they lose, the Habs can take a lot of lessons from said game.