Game 750
Canadiens 2, Maple Leafs 1
Saturday, February 13, 2021
Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario

Brendan Gallagher broke a tie late in the third period, and the Montréal Canadiens defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.

Gallagher knocked down Jeff Petry’s shot from the right point and put the puck past a sprawling Frederik Andersen with 3:07 remaining for Montréal’s second goal of the period.

“We were like (two different teams this game),” Gallagher said. “Our coaching staff did a really good job of remaining calm and letting us find our game, but the biggest guy in this one was (goalie) Carey Price. He gives you a chance to win every single game, and you can circle this one. We don’t have a shot in the third period if we don’t have him to settle us down.”

Tyler Toffoli had a goal and an assist, and Price made 21 saves for the Canadiens (9-4-2), who had lost two in a row. Gallagher also had an assist.

“We chopped up that puck pretty good and were fighting it in the first period,” Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. “We were on our heels, and when you lose three out of four and (are) playing one of the better teams in the League – they’re as hot as can be – we were a little tentative. We made a couple adjustments after the first, and in the second we slowly started picking up the pace of our game.”

Mitchell Marner scored, and Andersen made 23 saves for the Maple Leafs (11-3-1), who had won four in a row and are 8-1-1 in their past 10.

“We didn’t make good on the chances that we earned in the first period,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “We had more than enough offence there in the first to blow the game wide open and didn’t capitalize or (it) didn’t go our way. Our game was a mess from there.”

The Maple Leafs went up 1-0 at 3:36 of the first period when Marner took a pass in the slot from Auston Matthews, who had stolen the puck from Canadiens forward Phillip Danault behind the net.

The assist the extended Matthews’ point streak to nine games (12 points; nine goals, three assists), tying him with Johnny Gaudreau of the Calgary Flames and Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins for the second-longest of the season. It is the longest active streak in the NHL. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers each had a 10-game point streak, from January 20 – February 8. Matthews, who did not play against the Oilers on January 22, has a personal 12-game point streak (16 points; 11 goals, five assists).

Maple Leafs forwards Alexander Kerfoot and William Nylander hit the post five seconds apart late in the first period.

“We weren’t good in the first two periods that’s for sure, we know that,” Montréal captain Shea Weber said. “Carey kept us in it and stood on his head and gave us a chance to be ourselves in the third.”

Toffoli tied it 1-1 from low in the left face-off circle at 6:11 of the third after taking a pass from Danault, who got the puck after Gallagher collected it off the right boards following a dump-in.

“We were so fortunate that we were only down one,” Gallagher said. “That’s what gave us life, we knew we were one shot away and how that can change momentum. Toffoli scoring that goal was huge for us. Massive goal and a great play by Phillip, and then we’re right back in that game.”

Montréal outshot Toronto 12-6 in the third period.

“They came in with a sense of urgency with the way the last few games have gone for them,” Maple Leafs captain John Tavares said. “They played hard, just tried to play physical. Obviously, we’re aware of some of the things that we do well. That’s part of it, we’ve seen it throughout the season so far. We have to find a way to break through.”

The Canadiens do not play again until next Saturday, when they host the Maple Leafs.

“There absolutely was urgency for us,” Julien said. “Let’s not kid ourselves, if we’d come out with another loss, that’s four losses in five games and then a week to sit on that, it makes a huge difference. This win here is one of those wins you need at the right time of the schedule. This was huge for us. It puts our mindset in a much better position.”

NOTES: Canadiens forward Tomas Tatar was a healthy scratch. He played in each of the previous 14 games this season.

Story, photo property of NHL.com

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BOXSCORE
1st Period
TOR GOAL – 03:36 – Marner (Matthews, Hyman)
MTL PEN – 15:35 – Toffoli, holding

2nd Period
none

3rd Period
MTL GOAL – 06:11 – Toffoli (Danault, Gallagher)
MTL GOAL – 16:54 – Gallagher (Petry, Toffoli)

GOALTENDERS
MTL – Price (W, 21-22)
TOR – Andersen (L, 23-25)

SHOTS ON GOAL
MTL – 6+7+12 = 25
TOR – 9+7+6 = 22

ROSTERS
MTL – Goaltenders: Jake Allen, Carey Price. Defence: Ben Chiarot, Joel Edmundson, Victor Mete, Jeff Petry, Alexander Romanov, Shea Weber (C). Forwards: Josh Anderson, Joel Armia, Paul Byron (A), Phillip Danault, Jonathan Drouin, Jake Evans, Brendan Gallagher (A), Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Artturi Lehkonen, Corey Perry, Nick Suzuki, Tyler Toffoli.
TOR – Goaltenders: Frederik Andersen, Michael Hutchinson. Defence: Zach Bogosian, T.J. Brodie, Travis Dermott, Justin Holl, Jake Muzzin, Morgan Rielly (A). Forwards: Travis Boyd, Pierre Engvall, Zach Hyman, Alexander Kerfoot, Mitchell Marner (A), Auston Matthews, Ilya Mikheyev, William Nylander, Nic Petan, Jason Spezza, John Tavares (C), Jimmy Vesey.

TEAM RECORDS
MTL – 9-4-2 (.667)
TOR – 11-3-1 (.767)

ATTENDANCE
0

THREE STARS
⭐ Brendan Gallagher (MTL)
⭐⭐ Tyler Toffoli (MTL)
⭐⭐⭐ Mitchell Marner (TOR)