Habs dismantle Leafs in 5-2 trouncing

The Montreal Canadiens snapped their five-game losing streak with a commanding 5-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. This was just the second matchup this season between the two Atlantic Division rivals, with the Leafs taking the season opener.

“I thought it was great, right from the start, we played with a lot of energy,” said Noah Dobson during the after-game press conference. “We made it a hard night for them, just playing a deep game, forechecking, and when we do that, we get all our looks we want in the o-zone and find our chances, and we were able to capitalize. A huge response and a big two points.”

To say this was a vitally important game for both teams would be underselling the situation in a way. This marked the final home game for Montreal before a gruelling three-game road trip starting on Wednesday to face the Utah Mammoth, followed by a back-to-back Friday and Saturday against the Golden Knights and Avalanche, respectively.

In a phrase, this was a “must-win” game.

Josh Anderson certainly realized it was an important victory to get. “We talked about it, we had to flip the script. It was a really important game to finish off the homestand and get a win tonight and go on the road.”

Fortunate ‘sons

Every goal for the Canadiens in this game was scored by a player whose last name ended in “son”. To kick things off, Lane Hutson flew off the blue line to receive a perfect pass from Nick Suzuki and blasting it clean past Woll to get the Habs up 1-0 after 12 minutes of play.

1:22 later, Noah Dobson teed up a Mike Matheson pass to extend the Habs' lead to 2-0. Traffic in front of the Maple Leafs' net played a large factor in this goal, especially Juraj Slafkovsky, who screened Woll and jumped up over the puck on its way to the twine.

Dobson then doubled up off the back of a nice passing play initiated by Juraj Slafkovsky 4 minutes into the second stanza. “I didn’t know he [Dobson] was coming in behind me,” said Slafkovsky on the play. “I saw Demi was open on the goal line and I gave it to him, then Dobber came in flying, it was nice.” The nice part is a Dobson clapper that cleanly beat Woll far-side.

Josh Anderson then got in on the action halfway through the same period, receiving a nice rim pass off the wall from Florian Xhekaj, finding space on the glove side faceoff dot and ripping a shot over Woll’s shoulder, sending Woll to the bench.

Anderson would net his second of the game late in the game, flinging in the empty net goal.

A tale of two nets

Much ink has been spilled as of late about the goaltending situation, and rightfully so. Entering Saturday night's matchup and recovering from a disastrous Washington game where Montembeault let in 3 goals on 10 shots, then Dobes in relief let in 4 goals on 25 shots. Saturday night, Jakub Dobes changed the narrative, at least for a game, swatting aside 24 of 26 shots and, for the most part, playing a steady and unexciting game. The only goals to go in were from an excellent point shot by Oliver Ekman-Larsson at the end of the second period and a far-side snipe by William Nylander during 6 on 4 play late in the third. Dobes's game wasn't flashy, or scary, or dramatic; it was stable, something Montreal has desperately needed.

The same "unexciting" descriptor could not be said for the visiting Leafs.

Montreal unleashed an assault on the Toronto net, with 9 shots in the first period and two of those going in, and 17 in the second period, with the fourth goal of the game chasing Joseph Woll. Let that fact not be used against Woll; if not for his efforts, this scoreline could have been spectacularly more skewed in favour of the Canadiens. Woll made stop after stop on the man-advantage, but most notably during a roughly 90-second span of 6 on 5 on a delayed penalty. Toronto hung their goalie out to dry, and it cost them.

A debut to remember

It seemed only a matter of time before Florian Xhekaj would make his NHL debut, and it went about as one would expect. “I mean that was awesome,” the younger Xhekaj brother chuckled. “It was an unbelievable first game, I don’t think I could ask for a better first one.” Florian finished the game with 1 assist, 2 shots and 3 hits in 9:48 of ice time. As one would expect, Florian Xhekaj wasn’t going to make his NHL debut against the Leafs on Saturday night without a fight. With DMX’s “X gon’ give it to ya” blasting over the speakers at the Bell Centre, his dance partner was Dakota Mermis. “That was unreal, I couldn’t hear a thing after the fight it was so loud.” Noted the rookie.

Florian's NHL debut was always about more than hockey; for Florian it was about something bigger. It was about accomplishment as a family.

“Not many guys can say they played their first NHL game at the Bell Centre. Against the Leafs first of all and then to have my brother here with me it’s truly special, and for my dad and my mom to be here there’s nothing I could ask for more.”