Game 735
Canadiens 5, Maple Leafs 3
Saturday, January 7, 2017
Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario

Alexander Radulov was one of five Montréal Canadiens to score in a 5-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre on Saturday.

The Canadiens (25-9-6) have won three in a row and have a point in six straight. The Maple Leafs (18-13-8) had a seven-game point streak end.

“I’m certainly happy about the performance tonight,” Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. “Guys showed a lot of character, a lot of passion, and it was important for us to get really good start, especially with all the injuries we’ve got. The start of our game really put us in a good position confidence-wise.”

The Canadiens took a 2-0 lead 3:47 into the first period. Max Pacioretty scored his 19th of the season 20 seconds into the game when he took a pass from Radulov behind the net and put it past Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen from the slot.

Artturi Lehkonen squeezed a wrist shot between Andersen’s blocker and chest protector 3:27 later.

The Maple Leafs made it 2-1 when Mitchell Marner set up Tyler Bozak in the slot at 8:25 to cap an end-to-end rush. Toronto tied the game 2-2 at 16:01 on a power-play goal by Nazem Kadri, who put a rebound at the top of the crease behind goalie Carey Price.

Nikita Scherbak scored in his NHL debut to give Montréal a 3-2 lead with one second left in the first period. Scherbak was a first-round pick (number 26) in the 2014 NHL Draft and was recalled from St. John’s of the American Hockey League on Thursday after forward Brendan Gallagher was sidelined at least eight weeks by a hand injury.

“It was a game-changer, the timing,” Canadiens goaltender Carey Price said of Scherbak’s goal. “They tie the game up and we get one right at the end there, that was a big morale boost for us coming back in here. You have to be happy for the young guy obviously. It was a big moment for him.”

Radulov made it 4-2 36 seconds into the second period.

Marner got his third assist by circling the zone to feed van Riemsdyk with a cross-crease pass at 18:15 to get the Maple Leafs within 4-3.

Michael McCarron put the Canadiens up 5-3 at 3:51 of the third period with a shot from the corner that went in off Andersen’s stick and between his legs. It was McCarron’s second NHL goal in 31 games.

NOTES: Therrien won his 400th NHL game as a coach (400-293-80, 23 ties)…Marner matched his NHL high with three assists (third time).

Story property of NHL.com, photo property of SB Nation

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BOXSCORE
1st Period
MTL GOAL – 00:20 – Pacioretty (Radulov, Weber)
MTL GOAL – 03:47 – Lehkonen (Plekanec, Petry)
TOR PEN – 03:47 – Komarov, delay of game
MTL PEN – 03:47 – Radulov, delay of game
MTL PEN – 07:55 – Plekanec, slashing
TOR PP GOAL – 08:25 – Bozak (Marner, van Riemsdyk)
MTL PEN – 15:31 – Radulov, hooking
TOR PP GOAL – 16:01 – Kadri (Marner, van Riemsdyk)
TOR PEN – 18:20 – Gardiner, hooking
MTL PP GOAL – 19:59 – Scherbak (Petry, Danault)

2nd Period
TOR PEN – 00:20 – Marner, hooking
MTL PP GOAL – 00:36 – Radulov (Weber, Beaulieu)
MTL PEN – 04:26 – McCarron, roughing
TOR PEN – 04:26 – Leivo, roughing
TOR PEN – 10:10 – Martin, roughing + fighting major
MTL PEN – 10:10 – McCarron, roughing + fighting major
TOR PEN – 10:10 – Gauthier, fighting major + game misconduct
MTL PEN – 10:10 – Farnham, fighting major + game misconduct
TOR PEN – 12:48 – Hyman, interference
TOR GOAL – 18:15 – van Riemsdyk (Marner, Zaitsev)
TOR PEN – 19:03 – Kadri, delay of game
MTL PEN – 20:00 – Weber, roughing / cross checking double minor
TOR PEN – 20:00 – Hyman, roughing

3rd Period
MTL GOAL – 03:51 – McCarron (Carr)
TOR PEN – 05:40 – van Riemsdyk, roughing
TOR PEN – 12:45 – Matthews, delay of game
MTL PEN – 19:17 – Weber, cross checking

GOALTENDERS
MTL – Price (W, 33-36)
TOR – Andersen (L, 26-31)

SHOTS ON GOAL
MTL – 11+8+12 = 31
TOR – 10+11+15 = 36

ROSTERS
MTL – Goaltenders: Al Montoya, Carey Price. Defence: Mark Barberio, Nathan Beaulieu, Alexei Emelin, Ryan Johnston, Jeff Petry, Shea Weber (A). Forwards: Sven Andrighetto, Daniel Carr, Phillip Danault, Bobby Farnham, Brian Flynn, Artturi Lehkonen, Michael McCarron, Torrey Mitchell, Max Pacioretty (C), Tomas Plekanec (A), Alexander Radulov, Nikita Scherbak.
TOR – Goaltenders: Frederik Andersen, Antoine Bibeau. Defence: Connor Carrick, Jake Gardiner, Matt Hunwick, Roman Polak, Morgan Rielly (A), Nikita Zaitsev. Forwards: Tyler Bozak (A), Connor Brown, Frédérik Gauthier, Zach Hyman, Nazem Kadri, Leo Komarov (A), Josh Leivo, Mitchell Marner, Matt Martin, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, James van Riemsdyk.

TEAM RECORDS
MTL – 25-9-6 (.700)
TOR – 18-13-8 (.564)

ATTENDANCE
19,796

THREE STARS
⭐ Alexander Radulov (MTL)
⭐⭐ Mitchell Marner (TOR)
⭐⭐⭐ Max Pacioretty (MTL)