Game 747
Canadiens 2, Maple Leafs 1 (OT)
Saturday, February 8, 2020
Centre Bell, Montréal, Québec

Ilya Kovalchuk scored at 1:43 of overtime, and the Montréal Canadiens rallied for a 2-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Bell Centre on Saturday.

Kovalchuk scored on a rebound after Maple Leafs goalie Jack Campbell (28 saves) made the initial save on Nick Suzuki’s backhand shot.

Marco Scandella tied the game with 2:33 left in the third period, and Carey Price made 22 saves for Montréal (27-23-7), which has won three in a row. The Canadiens are 9-3-0 since going eight straight without a win (0-7-1).

“I think right now, of course we’ve got to rely on ourselves, but we’ve got to be aware of what’s going on around the League because every game, every team, it’s so close right now,” Kovalchuk said. “And we just believe in ourselves. We battled through some injuries, some flu and everything, and I think it’s just going to make us stronger.”

Campbell made 26 saves in his Maple Leafs debut Friday, a 5-4 overtime win against the Anaheim Ducks, two days after he and forward Kyle Clifford were acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings.

He lost his shutout Saturday when Scandella scored on a slap shot from the left point to tie it 1-1.

“I’m just definitely not happy, giving that one up, you know, to give them life again and blow that lead and in the third,” Campbell said. “I just know my ability and I’m confident with my team in front of me, and they battled all night, so one more save and we get two points.”

It was Scandella’s fourth goal of the season, his first in 16 games with Montréal since he was acquired in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres on January 2.

“It took a while, but it was good timing,” Scandella said.

John Tavares gave Toronto (29-19-8) a 1-0 lead when he extended his goal streak to four games at 1:06 of the third period. It was the Maple Leafs’ only shot of the period while Montréal had 16 against Campbell, who started back-to-back games in the NHL for the first time.

“Obviously we got the lead, you know they came with a lot of momentum and desperation,” Tavares said. “It’s human nature to be a little bit safer in those certain circumstances, but certainly we’ve got to find a way to get on their half of the ice more and generate some more offence and push to increase our lead and continue to be smart with the puck and defensively.”

Zach Hyman drove down the right side and passed to Alexander Kerfoot to set up Tavares’ goal. The Maple Leafs centre cut across the top of the slot to receive a pass from Kerfoot and scored on a wrist shot from the right face-off circle.

“Everyone goes through back-to-backs and playing tired and stuff like that,” Maple Leafs defenceman Jake Muzzin said. “We’ve got to bear down and get it done.”

NOTES: Tavares has seven points (five goals, two assists) during his four-game streak…Maple Leafs forward William Nylander missed his second straight game because of an illness…It was Kovalchuk’s 17th overtime goal, which moved him into third on the NHL all-time list behind Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals (23) and Jaromir Jagr (19)…Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin had one shot and three hits in 11:49 of ice time in his first game since November 15; he missed 37 games after having wrist surgery. Montréal is 12-5-3 this season with Drouin and 15-18-4 without him.

Story property of NHL.com, photo property of Yahoo! Sports

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BOXSCORE
1st Period
none

2nd Period
MTL PEN – 01:46 – Drouin, slashing
TOR PEN – 09:25 – Dermott, tripping
MTL PEN – 15:03 – Mete, delay of game

3rd Period
TOR GOAL – 01:06 – Tavares (Kerfoot, Hyman)
TOR PEN – 11:52 – team, too many players
MTL GOAL – 17:27 – Scandella (Ouellet, Thompson)

Overtime
MTL GOAL – 01:43 – Kovalchuk (Suzuki)

GOALTENDERS
MTL – Price (W, 22-23)
TOR – Campbell (L, 28-30)

SHOTS ON GOAL
MTL – 7+4+16+3 = 30
TOR – 7+14+1+1 = 23

ROSTERS
MTL – Goaltenders: Charlie Lindgren, Carey Price. Defence: Ben Chiarot, Brett Kulak, Victor Mete, Xavier Ouellet, Jeff Petry (A), Marco Scandella. Forwards: Joel Armia, Nick Cousins, Phillip Danault, Max Domi, Jonathan Drouin, Jake Evans, Brendan Gallagher (A), Ilya Kovalchuk, Artturi Lehkonen, Nick Suzuki, Tomas Tatar, Nate Thompson (A).
TOR – Goaltenders: Jack Campbell, Michael Hutchinson. Defence: Tyson Barrie, Travis Dermott, Justin Holl, Timothy Liljegren, Jake Muzzin, Rasmus Sandin. Forwards: Kyle Clifford, Pierre Engvall, Frédérik Gauthier, Zach Hyman, Andreas Johnsson, Kasperi Kapanen, Alexander Kerfoot, Mitchell Marner (A), Auston Matthews (A), Jason Spezza, John Tavares (C), Dmytro Timashov.

TEAM RECORDS
MTL – 27-23-7 (.535)
TOR – 29-19-8 (.589)

ATTENDANCE
21,302

THREE STARS
⭐ Carey Price (MTL)
⭐⭐ Marco Scandella (MTL)
⭐⭐⭐ Jack Campbell (TOR)