Game 738
Maple Leafs 6, Canadiens 0
Saturday, November 18, 2017
Centre Bell, Montréal, Québec

Frederik Andersen made 33 saves for his second straight shutout, and the Toronto Maple Leafs extended their winning streak to six games with a 6-0 win against the Montréal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Saturday.

Auston Matthews scored two of Toronto’s four third-period goals in his return after missing four games with an upper-body injury.

“It feels good to be back,” Matthews said. “I didn’t feel too hot out there the first two periods, but I think it’s just all part of coming back and not playing in four games. So definitely some room for improvement, but obviously when you come into this building it’s not going to be easy, and a big win tonight, for sure.”

Connor Brown and James van Riemsdyk also scored in the third, and Ron Hainsey and Nazem Kadri scored 37 seconds apart in the second period for the Maple Leafs (14-7-0), who last won six consecutive games from December 6-16, 2014.

“Well (Andersen) was good early,” Toronto coach Mike Babcock said. “We weren’t as competitive as they were early and they won more battles and more races. And then I thought we settled in, got playing, and we scored some timely goals. Getting the first one was big, but getting the second one really gave us some breathing room and I thought we settled in and played.”

Matthews’ first goal at 8:59 of the third made it 5-0. Montréal goalie Charlie Lindgren, who made 22 saves in his seventh straight start in place of injured Carey Price, was replaced after the goal.

Matthews made it 6-0 at 15:27 with his 12th of the season, against Antti Niemi, who replaced Lindgren and made his Canadiens debut.

Montréal (8-11-2) has lost three straight and is 1-3-1 in its past five games.

“We had a good performance in the first half, but we collapsed in the second period,” Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. “The scoreline says it all.”

Andersen, who has 13 NHL shutouts, made 42 saves in a 1-0 overtime win against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday. He made 16 saves in the first period Saturday.

“We didn’t allow them too much from inside, I think especially early on, there was a lot from the perimeter, and we got into the game after that,” Andersen said.

Hainsey gave Toronto a 1-0 lead with his first goal at 12:07 of the second period. Kadri scored 37 seconds later to make it 2-0, extending his point streak to six games with his 10th goal at 12:44 on a wrist shot from the left side that went off Lindgren’s right shoulder.

Brown increased the lead to 3-0 25 seconds into the third period. van Riemsdyk made it 4-0 at 8:11.

“If we’re able to put one in when we get chances at the beginning of the game, it might be a different story,” Canadiens left wing Max Pacioretty said. “But eventually that team will make you pay, they just have so much offence that’s able to come wave after wave. They were able to get that first one and they built off that. It was too much, and we weren’t able to recover.”

NOTES: Toronto, which won 4-3 in overtime at Montréal on October 14, won consecutive games against the Canadiens for the first time since 2012-13…It was Montréal’s first regulation loss in six games against the Atlantic Division (4-1-1)…To mark the NHL’s upcoming 100th anniversary, six Hall of Famers took part in the ceremonial faceoff – Dave Keon, Yvan Cournoyer, Rod Gilbert, Frank Mahovlich, Ray Bourque and Denis Savard. Mahovlich and Savard went out in a Red Wings and Blackhawks jersey, respectively, but took them off to reveal Canadiens sweaters underneath. Both ended their careers in Montréal.

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

---

BOXSCORE
1st Period
MTL PEN – 14:36 – Benn, tripping

2nd Period
MTL PEN – 08:05 – Weber, interference
TOR GOAL – 12:07 – Hainsey (Bozak, Moore)
TOR GOAL – 12:44 – Kadri (Marleau, Andersen)

3rd Period
TOR GOAL – 00:25 – Brown (Zaitsev, Hyman)
MTL PEN – 04:34 – Weber, roughing double minor
TOR PEN – 04:34 – Kadri, roughing
TOR GOAL – 08:11 – van Riemsdyk (Bozak)
TOR GOAL – 08:59 – Matthews (Marner, Martin)
MTL PEN – 09:39 – Byron, fighting major
TOR PEN – 09:39 – Zaitsev, slashing + fighting major
TOR GOAL – 15:27 – Matthews (Marner)
MTL PEN – 18:36 – Gallagher, roughing double minor
TOR PEN – 18:36 – Carrick, roughing double minor

GOALTENDERS
TOR – Andersen (W + SO, 33-33)
MTL – Lindgren (L, 22-27), Niemi (3-4)

SHOTS ON GOAL
TOR – 7+11+13 = 31
MTL – 16+10+7 = 33

ROSTERS
TOR – Goaltenders: Frederik Andersen, Curtis McElhinney. Defence: Andreas Borgman, Connor Carrick, Jake Gardiner, Ron Hainsey, Morgan Rielly (A), Nikita Zaitsev. Forwards: Tyler Bozak (A), Connor Brown, Zach Hyman, Nazem Kadri, Leo Komarov (A), Patrick Marleau, Mitchell Marner, Matt Martin, Auston Matthews, Dominic Moore, William Nylander, James van Riemsdyk.
MTL – Goaltenders: Charlie Lindgren, Antti Niemi. Defence: Karl Alzner, Jordie Benn, Victor Mete, Joe Morrow, Jeff Petry, Shea Weber (A). Forwards: Paul Byron, Phillip Danault, Jacob de la Rose, Nicolas Deslauriers, Jonathan Drouin, Byron Froese, Alex Galchenyuk, Brendan Gallagher, Charles Hudon, Max Pacioretty (C), Tomas Plekanec (A), Andrew Shaw.

TEAM RECORDS
TOR – 14-7-0 (.667)
MTL – 8-11-2 (.429)

ATTENDANCE
21,302

THREE STARS
⭐ Frederik Andersen (TOR)
⭐⭐ Auston Matthews (TOR)
⭐⭐⭐ Nazem Kadri (TOR)