Game 744
Canadiens 6, Maple Leafs 5 (SO)
Saturday, April 6, 2019
Centre Bell, Montréal, Québec

Ryan Poehling scored a hat trick in his NHL debut for the Montréal Canadiens in a 6-5 shootout win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Bell Centre on Saturday.

Poehling scored his third goal of the game on a wrist shot from the slot to tie it at 5-5 with 2:31 left in the third period. He also scored the winning goal in the shootout for Montréal (44-30-8).

“It’s a surreal moment for myself and I feel like I’m in a dream,” Poehling said. “I’m just in shock.”

The 20-year-old forward is the first Canadiens player to score three goals in his first NHL game since Alex Smart had three goals and an assist on January 14, 1943.

“It was all joy on the bench,” forward Andrew Shaw said. “We’re all happy for him, smiling. Who wouldn’t when you see a kid come in like that. Honestly, you can’t believe it. He had a couple of other opportunities as well, finishing his checks, he played hard. He deserves it. He’s going to be a great player.”

Frederik Andersen made 44 saves for the Maple Leafs (46-28-8), who finished third in the Atlantic Division and will play the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference First Round.

Toronto reached 100 points despite losing its final three games (0-2-1). It is the first time the Maple Leafs, who had 105 points in 2017-18, have had consecutive 100-point seasons.

“We haven’t had as much to play for here in this last little bit and it’s been evident in our play,” Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “And so now we’ve got to get to the next level and play a good Boston team. We’ll be ready.”

Charlie Lindgren made 44 saves in his season debut for Montréal, which was eliminated Friday.

Poehling, who scored on each of his three shots, drew the Canadiens within 2-1 at 11:41 of the first period when he redirected Jordan Weal’s pass from behind the net while he cut across the goal mouth.

Poehling tied it 2-2 at 2:56 of the second, scoring stick side after his deflection of Jeff Petry’s point shot hit the right post.

Weal gave Montréal a 3-2 lead with a power-play goal at 7:04, but Trevor Moore tied it at 3-3 at 8:47.

Shaw’s 19th goal put Montréal ahead 4-3 at 10:17, but William Nylander tied it at 4-4 at 17:33.

Kasperi Kapanen gave the Maple Leafs a 5-4 lead with his 20th goal at 8:04 of the third.

Zach Hyman gave Toronto a 1-0 lead with his 21st goal at 5:50 of the first.

Mitchell Marner got his 68th assist on Jake Gardiner’s third goal, which made it 2-0 at 8:03.

“I think we gave up too many chances, we left (Andersen) out to dry a couple of times,” Marner said. “Going forward we can’t do that. The team we’re playing scores on a lot of their opportunities that they’re given, so we’ve got to be a lot better for (Andersen).”

NOTES: Marner’s 94 points are the most by a Maple Leafs player since Mats Sundin had 94 in 1996-97…Gardiner’s goal was the 7,589th scored in the NHL this season, surpassing the previous record of 7,588 set in 2005-06…The only Montréal player to score more than three goals in his first game was Joe Malone, who scored five in the Canadiens’ first NHL game on December 19, 1917.

Story property of NHL.com, photo property of The Globe & Mail

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BOXSCORE
1st Period
TOR GOAL – 05:50 – Hyman
TOR GOAL – 08:03 – Gardiner (Marner, Hyman)
MTL GOAL – 11:41 – Poehling (Weal, Deslauriers)

2nd Period
MTL GOAL – 02:56 – Poehling (Petry, Deslauriers)
TOR PEN – 06:58 – Gardiner, tripping
MTL PP GOAL – 07:04 – Weal (Armia, Drouin)
TOR GOAL – 08:47 – Moore (Gauthier)
MTL GOAL – 10:17 – Shaw (Domi, Lehkonen)
MTL PEN – 11:20 – Kotkaniemi, hooking
TOR GOAL – 17:33 – Nylander (Kadri)

3rd Period
TOR GOAL – 08:04 – Kapanen (Matthews, Johnsson)
MTL GOAL – 17:29 – Poehling (Lehkonen, Shaw)

Overtime
none

Shootout
MTL MISS – Tatar
TOR GOAL – Matthews
MTL GOAL – Drouin
TOR SAVE – Marner
MTL MISS – Weal
TOR SAVE – Tavares
MTL GOAL – Poehling
TOR SAVE – Kapanen

GOALTENDERS
MTL – Lindgren (W, 44-49)
TOR – Andersen (OTL, 44-49)

SHOTS ON GOAL
MTL – 14+17+16+2 = 49
TOR – 18+19+8+4 = 49

ROSTERS
MTL – Goaltenders: Charlie Lindgren, Carey Price. Defence: Jordie Benn, Christian Folin, Brett Kulak, Victor Mete, Jeff Petry (A), Shea Weber (C). Forwards: Joel Armia, Phillip Danault, Nicolas Deslauriers, Max Domi, Jonathan Drouin, Brendan Gallagher (A), Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Artturi Lehkonen, Ryan Poehling, Andrew Shaw, Tomas Tatar, Jordan Weal.
TOR – Goaltenders: Frederik Andersen, Michael Hutchinson. Defence: Jake Gardiner, Justin Holl, Martin Marincin, Igor Ozhiganov, Morgan Rielly (A), Calle Rosen. Forwards: Connor Brown, Frédérik Gauthier, Zach Hyman, Andreas Johnsson, Nazem Kadri, Kasperi Kapanen, Patrick Marleau (A), Mitchell Marner, Auston Matthews, Trevor Moore, William Nylander, John Tavares (A).

TEAM RECORDS
MTL – 44-30-8 (.585)
TOR – 46-28-8 (.610)

ATTENDANCE
21,302

THREE STARS
⭐ Ryan Poehling (MTL)
⭐⭐ Zach Hyman (TOR)
⭐⭐⭐ Jordan Weal (MTL)