Montreal Canadiens Bounce Back With Big Win Over Maple Leafs

Montreal Canadiens fans were feeling a bit somber heading into yesterday’s trade deadline.

The Habs had lost three straight games and looked awful in a Saturday night defeat to the Winnipeg Jets. It was their last game before the trade deadline and they were dominated in a 5-0 loss.

General Manager Marc Bergevin went out and added a few depth defenders ahead of the deadline in Jon Merrill and Erik Gustafsson, but didn’t make an enormous splash.

The Canadiens players seemed rejuvenated after the deadline passed as they came out flying in the first period against the Maple Leafs. While they looked half asleep Saturday night and couldn’t seem to complete a couple of simple passes in a row, everything was clicking in the opening period of this game.

Just over a minute into the game, the line of Tomas Tatar, Phillip Danault and Paul Byron was buzzing in the offensive zone. Tatar forced a turnover behind the net when he pounced on Auston Matthews and knocked a puck loose. Danault then worked it out front before Byron pressured the puck and Alex Galchenyuk knocked it towards his own net where Tatar tapped it in.

The Canadiens got a power play a few minutes later and Nick Suzuki extended the lead. Jonathan Drouin made a slick pass from behind the net to Shea Weber at the point. The Habs captain moved the puck over to Suzuki who faked his shot just long enough to drag the puck around Morgan Rielly and beat Jack Campbell.

The first period would end with the Habs leading 2-0 on the scoreboard and 11-3 on the shot clock.

The second period tilted towards the Leafs favour as they stormed back on the shot clock first and then the scoreboard.

Auston Matthews would get the Leafs on the board when he redirected a Mitch Marner pass being Jake Allen. John Tavares would tie the game after a mad scramble in front of the Habs net. The Leafs captain gathered the puck and fired a backhand through a maze of Canadiens bodies and into the top corner of the net.

This tied the game with 5:03 to play in the second period and provided an interesting test for the Canadiens. After being blown out last game, and losing three in a row, would they sulk away against the division leading Leafs or bounce back after Toronto tied the game?

Well, Josh Anderson came blazing down the right wing and fired a puck past Campbell to prove the Canadiens were not going away. It was just 1:25 after Tavares goal and restored the Habs lead heading into the third period.

From there, the Habs were happy to try and smother the Leafs attack. They did get a couple of great chances, with Anderson hitting the post after a couple of great passes from Kotkaniemi and Drouin led to Anderson getting wide open heading in on Campbell. He had the goaltender beat but just flubbed the puck a bit and hit the post.

Suzuki had a great chance to score his second of the game and seal the deal when he got alone in front. He hesitated and then deked to his backhand but Campbell made a great save with the right pad to keep the Leafs within one.

The Maple Leafs pulled the goalie with just over 2:30 to play but a nice defensive play by Jeff Petry caused a turnover and then a couple of quick passes by Petry and Paul Byron led to Tatar getting some open ice. He carried the puck into the Leafs zone and fired a backhander into the empty net.

Just like that, the Habs losing streak was over at 3 and Campbell’s winning streak was stopped at 11.