- Cole Caufield scored with 38 seconds left in overtime to beat Toronto 4-3 at Bell Centre
- Montreal won both halves of the split-squad doubleheader, taking the Scotiabank Arena game 4-1
- Read below for full details on Lane Hutson’s three-point night and the Maple Leafs debuts
Cole Caufield does not need a regular season game to look like himself.
The Canadiens winger scored with 38 seconds left in overtime Saturday night, finishing a 2-on-0 give-and-go with Lane Hutson to beat the Maple Leafs 4-3 at Bell Centre. Caufield slipped around Logan Shaw at the offensive blue line, took the return pass and lifted it over Samuel Hlavaj’s outstretched left pad.
Watch the winner:
Hutson had a hand in most of what Montreal did. The defenseman finished with a goal and two assists, including the 3-3 equalizer at 2:43 of the third period on a wrist shot from the left hash marks.
Here’s Hutson tying it:
Ivan Demidov got the power play going in the first period, one-timing a puck from low in the right circle at 12:04 to make it 2-0. Juraj Slafkovsky had opened the scoring at 4:27 with a tip-in.
Take a look at Demidov’s:
Chris Kreider played 17:05 in his first game with Montreal and put one shot on net. He signed a one-year deal with the Canadiens on Sept. 12, two days after Anaheim terminated his contract.
Toronto’s group made it interesting with three straight goals. Henrik Rybinski scored on the power play and added an assist, Colton Sissons deflected an Oliver Ekman-Larsson shot home in his Maple Leafs debut, and Marc Johnstone put Toronto ahead 3-2 at 16:21 of the second period.
Montreal took the other half of the doubleheader too. Phillip Danault scored twice in a 4-1 win at Scotiabank Arena, Sam Montembeault stopped all 13 shots he faced before giving way to Kaapo Kahkonen, and Maksymilian Szuber and Samuel Poulin also scored.
That was the game where Gavin McKenna made his Maple Leafs debut, logging 23:39 without a point. Darren Raddysh scored in his first game as a Leaf and Sergei Bobrovsky made 10 saves in his.
Two games, two losses, one night for Toronto in a season built around its 100th anniversary.
