The Toronto Maple Leafs welcomed the Montreal Canadiens to town on Thursday night to kick off their home-and-home exhibition series. Head coach Craig Berube shifted his focus from getting reps to building chemistry, icing a lineup that was stacked with NHL regulars. Up against a very inexperienced Canadiens lineup, the Leafs squeezed out a 2-1 victory.
John Tavares opened the scoring on the power play, just over ten minutes into the opening frame. Mitch Marner made a great read and found a seam back door to Tavares, who made easy work of the tasty dish:
John Tavares scores on the power play 🚨 pic.twitter.com/bobEaL6iaQ
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) September 26, 2024
There was a bit of a scary moment in the first period as William Nylander took a knee to the head after being pushed from behind unexpectedly by teammate Nick Robertson. Robertson was trying to give Nylander a boost with his stick in the neutral zone, resulting in Nylander getting tripped up in ugly fashion:
the full sequence between Robertson and Nylander pic.twitter.com/DF5VIBSYXs
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) September 26, 2024
Nylander was held out of the remainder of the game, for what the team called ‘precautionary reasons’. Pontus Holmberg slid into the middle of the ice for the final two periods. Holmberg’s versatility helps his case for cracking the opening night lineup.
Robertson got some revenge late in the second period on a great individual effort to make it 2-1. He picked the pocket of Canadiens’ d-man Adam Engstrom, and proceeded to show off his quick release, in what turned out to be the game-winning goal:
*Yoink* pic.twitter.com/CvCHakuV3n
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) September 27, 2024
Montreal forward Christian Dvorak tied things up 1-1 in the early stages of the second period. Dvorak made his way in tight on Anthony Stolarz, winning the battle between the two former London Knights’ teammates. Stolarz was making his second consecutive start of the preseason and stopped nine of 10 shots in 40 minutes of action. It appears he’s going to give Joseph Woll a fight for the starter’s crease for the season opener Oct.9. Matt Murray finished off the final 20 minutes, stopping all five shots he faced.
Berube assembled an all-Knights line of Marner, Max Domi and Easton Cowan, who certainly had their moments. Cowan entered the top six Tuesday night looking to hit the scoresheet in what’s been a quiet training camp. He showed off some speed and a quick release on two mid-range chances in the first period and two partial breaks in the second. The 2023 first-rounder finished the night with three shots on goal. Cowan is likely to stick around training camp until the last possible moment a decision needs to be made about his future.
Meanwhile, Domi took an undisciplined cross-checking penalty early on in the first period, delivering the lumber to Canadiens defenceman Lane Hutson. While there’s no need to overreact to anything throughout the preseason, Domi needs to limit the unnecessary minor penalties this year. It will be interesting to see how Berube manages Domi’s ability to tow the edge, after the pesky forward lead the Leafs in penalty minutes last season.
It was also another strong performance by Max Pacioretty, who looked as healthy as ever. The veteran forward had another solid showing playing alongside Tavares on the Leafs’ third line. Currently still on a professional tryout (PTO) agreement, the 35-year-old winger is expected to sign a one-year contract at the conclusion of the preseason. Pacioretty was playing in his first game against his former club wearing a Maple Leaf. Entering his 17th season, the former Habs’ captain mentioned earlier in the day his kids feel Dad’s new jersey is his best one yet.
Auston Matthews missed Thursday’s game due to an upper-body injury, while Calle Jarnkrok is nursing a lower-body injury. Both players skated before the Leafs took the ice for practice this morning and don’t appear to be dealing with anything serious.
The two teams are back at it Saturday night as the home-and-home heads to Montreal.
