Game 743
Maple Leafs 6, Canadiens 3
Saturday, February 23, 2019
Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario

Zach Hyman scored his first of two goals with 1:50 remaining in the third period, and the Toronto Maple Leafs completed a three-goal comeback to defeat the Montréal Canadiens 6-3 at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.

Hyman put in a rebound at the side of the goal crease from Mitchell Marner’s shot to give the Maple Leafs a 4-3 lead.

William Nylander and Auston Matthews had a goal and an assist, Tyler Ennis and Andreas Johnsson scored and Frederik Andersen made 32 saves for Toronto (37-20-4), which ended a three-game losing streak.

“The way that we won the game coming from behind, it’s awesome,” Hyman said. “It’s a good feeling. To be able to score that goal, to get the lead after being down 3-0, is pretty cool. What a win for us to end a losing streak, coming back like we did on a Saturday night against Montréal, it’s a good feeling.”

The victory moved the Maple Leafs within three points of the Boston Bruins for second place in the Atlantic Division.

“It’s a good win for our team,” Toronto coach Mike Babcock said. “When it’s 3-0 and they’ve got to turn the music on loud because they’re scared what the fans will say, it’s not a good feeling. I thought we were really prepared, but it goes to show you when you’re young and it’s a big game, you get a little off kilter sometimes when you shouldn’t. Just steady on the rudder and get it done.”

Andrew Shaw and Jeff Petry had a goal and an assist, Tomas Tatar scored and Carey Price made 31 saves for Montréal (33-22-7), which holds the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

“We’ve been through enough adversity as a group; we should understand how to handle it but tonight we failed,” Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher said. “We didn’t do a good enough job. You get up 3-0, you should come away with a win.

“But like anything we’ve been through, the only choice we have to really learn from this and make sure it doesn’t happen again because it’s a pretty (lousy) feeling.”

The Canadiens took a 1-0 lead at 8:07 of the first period when Shaw put in a rebound from Brett Kulak’s shot at the top of the goal crease.

Tatar made it 2-0 at 12:44 with a shot from the right face-off circle.

Petry’s power-play goal gave the Canadiens a 3-0 lead at 13:52.

Matthews started Toronto’s rally when he scored at 2:13 of the second period for a power-play goal to make it 3-1.

Ennis made it 3-2 with a power-play goal of his own at 18:06.

“We know that their power play is good, and I think we gave them too many opportunities on the power play obviously because they capitalized,” Canadiens captain Shea Weber said. “They’re good; you never want to give up goals on the penalty kill. They’re tops in the League for a reason. I know they struggled for a little bit, but they’ve got a lot of talent and guys who can make plays.”

Nylander tied it 3-3 at 6:58 of the third period when Patrick Marleau shot it into the zone from centre ice and the puck bounded off the boards into the slot, catching Price out of position.

Johnsson (19:02) and Hyman (19:37) scored empty-net goals for the 6-3 final.

“We definitely had a great first period, but at the end of the day we might have got a little sloppy with the puck,” Price said. “We made a few bad decisions, and that ultimately what usually costs you the game.”

NOTES: The Canadiens were without forward Jonathan Drouin, who was a late scratch because of the flu…Marleau played in his 1,636th NHL game, passing Scott Stevens for eighth on the all-time games played list…Andersen won his 99th game with the Maple Leafs, moving him past John Ross Roach for eighth place on their all-time wins list for goalies…Toronto rallied back from three or more goals to defeat Montréal in a regular-season game for the second time in Maple Leafs history and first since March 26, 1969.

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

---

BOXSCORE
1st Period
MTL GOAL – 08:07 – Shaw (Kulak, Domi)
MTL GOAL – 12:44 – Tatar (Petry)
TOR PEN – 13:24 – Dermott, tripping
MTL PP GOAL – 13:54 – Petry (Shaw, Byron)
TOR PEN – 14:20 – Muzzin, high sticking
TOR PEN – 18:07 – Andersen, tripping

2nd Period
MTL PEN – 00:43 – Mete, holding
TOR PP GOAL – 02:13 – Matthews (Rielly, Tavares)
MTL PEN – 16:19 – Lehkonen, interference
TOR PP GOAL – 18:06 – Ennis (Marleau, Nylander)

3rd Period
TOR GOAL – 06:58 – Nylander (Marleau, Muzzin)
TOR PEN – 12:05 – Johnsson, hooking
TOR GOAL – 18:10 – Hyman (Marner)
TOR EN GOAL – 19:02 – Johnsson (Kapanen, Matthews)
TOR EN GOAL – 19:37 – Hyman (Rielly, Marner)

GOALTENDERS
TOR – Andersen (W, 32-35)
MTL – Price (L, 31-35)

SHOTS ON GOAL
TOR – 10+15+12 = 37
MTL – 20+11+4 = 35

ROSTERS
TOR – Goaltenders: Frederik Andersen, Garret Sparks. Defence: Travis Dermott, Jake Gardiner, Ron Hainsey, Jake Muzzin, Morgan Rielly (A), Nikita Zaitsev. Forwards: Connor Brown, Tyler Ennis, Frédérik Gauthier, Zach Hyman, Andreas Johnsson, Kasperi Kapanen, Par Lindholm, Patrick Marleau (A), Mitchell Marner, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares (A).
MTL – Goaltenders: Antti Niemi, Carey Price. Defence: Jordie Benn, Brett Kulak, Victor Mete, Jeff Petry, Mike Reilly, Shea Weber (C). Forwards: Joel Armia, Paul Byron (A), Phillip Danault, Nicolas Deslauriers, Max Domi, Brendan Gallagher (A), Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Artturi Lehkonen, Matthew Peca, Andrew Shaw, Tomas Tatar, Nate Thompson.

TEAM RECORDS
TOR – 37-20-4 (.639)
MTL – 33-22-7 (.589)

ATTENDANCE
19,506

THREE STARS
⭐ Zach Hyman (TOR)
⭐⭐ William Nylander (TOR)
⭐⭐⭐ Jeff Petry (MTL)