Game 736
Canadiens 3, Maple Leafs 2 (OT)
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario

Andrew Shaw scored 1:06 into overtime to give the Montréal Canadiens a 3-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre on Saturday.

“It feels great; it’s that time of year where we need to start bearing down and getting ready for those tight games,” Shaw said. “The team played great, Carey (Price) was really good for us, and to get the two points is a step in the right direction.”

Auston Matthews scored twice, including his 30th goal of the season, which tied the game 1:19 into the third period, for Toronto (28-20-13).

“I didn’t think like that,” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said when asked if he expected Matthews to score 30 goals. “I just thought, ‘Let’s make him better each and every day.’ I know he’s an elite player, I never spent any time thinking about what his stats would be, just that he would help us win. That’s what I like about him: He helps you win because he plays right. He’s going to be our number one centre here, if he’s not already, in no time. He’ll be the guy who’s driving our franchise.”

Price made 32 saves for Montréal (33-21-8), which is 2-4-0 in its past six games.

“I just thought he moved around well, he found those pucks and he tracked them well,” Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. “That’s the Carey Price we’ve got used to seeing and it’s nice to see him back playing that same way. He’s given us a chance to win and he’s also given us confidence because we know if there’s a breakdown, he’s making the save.”

The Canadiens swept the four-game season series with the Maple Leafs, who scored first Saturday for the first time. Montréal is five points ahead of Toronto for first place in the Atlantic Division.

Matthews’ shot deflected off Montréal defenceman Alexei Emelin in the slot and fooled Price to put the Maple Leafs up 1-0 at 10:54 of the first period.

“They gave us everything we could handle, but we pushed back and did a great job of staying focused, even down 1-0,” Julien said. “It was important for us to not panic and stay the course and we did.”

Toronto outshot Montréal 12-5 in the second period but the Canadiens scored twice to take a 2-1 lead. Max Pacioretty tied it 1-1 at 7:29 with a power-play goal, one-timing a pass from Alex Galchenyuk, who scored at 16:21.

“Every night, (Price is) great,” Montréal defenceman Shea Weber said. “You know what you’re going to get with him and that’s why he’s one of the best in the world.”

Matthews tied it 2-2 when he deflected a centering pass from Zach Hyman past Price at the top of the crease.

His 30 goals are tied with Patrik Laine of the Winnipeg Jets for the NHL rookie lead and are four behind Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the overall lead.

NOTES: Price won his 259th game to pass Ken Dryden for third place in Canadiens history…Maple Leafs forward Tyler Bozak did not play because of a cut on his hand. Babcock said he expects him to be back Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks…Jake Gardiner’s assist on Matthews’ first goal was his 32nd point of the season, an NHL career high for the 26-year-old.

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

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BOXSCORE
1st Period
MTL PEN – 01:39 – Lehkonen, interference
TOR PEN – 08:27 – Gardiner, hooking
TOR GOAL – 10:54 – Matthews (Gardiner, van Riemsdyk)
TOR PEN – 19:10 – Nylander, slashing

2nd Period
TOR PEN – 06:39 – Soshnikov, holding
MTL PP GOAL – 07:29 – Pacioretty (Galchenyuk, Shaw)
MTL PEN – 12:30 – Petry, tripping
MTL GOAL – 16:21 – Galchenyuk (Nesterov, Beaulieu)

3rd Period
TOR GOAL – 01:19 – Matthews (Hyman, Nylander)
TOR PEN – 04:36 – Nylander, high sticking

Overtime
MTL GOAL – 01:09 – Shaw (Plekanec, Markov)

GOALTENDERS
MTL – Price (W, 32-34)
TOR – Andersen (OTL, 25-28)

SHOTS ON GOAL
MTL – 11+5+10+2 = 28
TOR – 12+12+8+2 = 34

ROSTERS
MTL – Goaltenders: Al Montoya, Carey Price. Defence: Nathan Beaulieu, Alexei Emelin, Andrei Markov (A), Nikita Nesterov, Jeff Petry, Shea Weber. Forwards: Sven Andrighetto, Paul Byron, Phillip Danault, David Desharnais, Alex Galchenyuk, Brendan Gallagher, Artturi Lehkonen, Torrey Mitchell, Max Pacioretty (C), Tomas Plekanec (A), Alexander Radulov, Andrew Shaw.
TOR – Goaltenders: Frederik Andersen, Curtis McElhinney. Defence: Jake Gardiner, Matt Hunwick (A), Alexey Marchenko, Roman Polak, Morgan Rielly (A), Nikita Zaitsev. Forwards: Connor Brown, Frédérik Gauthier, Zach Hyman, Nazem Kadri, Leo Komarov (A), Josh Leivo, Matt Martin, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Ben Smith, Nikita Soshnikov, James van Riemsdyk.

TEAM RECORDS
MTL – 33-21-8 (.597)
TOR – 28-20-13 (.566)

ATTENDANCE
19,843

THREE STARS
⭐ Alex Galchenyuk (MTL)
⭐⭐ Auston Matthews (TOR)
⭐⭐⭐ Andrew Shaw (MTL)