Caufiled Does it Again

 

Last night we would see the Toronto Maple Leafs travel to Montreal for the first of three games against the Canadiens. Toronto was heading into this game currently on a five-game win streak and the host Canadiens have been on a hot streak of their own as Montreal would be looking for a victory would move them into a tie with the struggling Winnipeg Jets for third in the North Division. Jack Campbell would be starting in goal for the visiting Leafs and with Carey Price still dealing with concussion issues Jake Allen would be the goal for Montreal. Yesterday morning during Jake Muzzin’s media call he mentioned that he and his teammates were treating these three games against the Canadiens as a playoff series as these two historic clubs could possibly meet in round one which would be the first time they have met since 1979.

 

The game would begin with a rather conservative start with both teams playing a defensive style which watching as a fan I could partly understand as Toronto has already locked up their playoff spot, but Montreal has an opportunity to climb the standings so to see them also start slowly was a bit of a surprise. Four minutes into the action the Leafs would go to work in the offensive zone as William Nylander after receiving a no look pass from Alex Galchenyuk Nylander would feed the puck to Morgan Reilly waiting at the point and thanks to Reilly’s point shot finding its way into the back of the net with the help of a Galchenyuk screen Morgan would score his 5^th goal of the year giving the Leafs a 1-0 lead and ending his 13-game pointless streak in the process. A secondary assist would go to             Galchenyuk giving him three points in his last three games. With Toronto leading 1-0 they would have plans of extending their lead, but the officials would want some of the spotlight and infractions would be called often in the remaining minutes of the opening frame. It started with Galchenyuk serving two minutes for hooking a penalty that broadcaster Craig Simpson openly said there very little of a hook on the play hinting at what we fans already know but come game one of the post season calls like that will not be made. Nylander would also get called for interference but the Leafs however would manage to kill the penalty off and carry their 1-0 lead into the intermission.

The second period would see Toronto’s parade to the penalty box continue as Nick Foligno would be called for tripping just seconds into the period. Unlike the previous two infractions where Toronto managed to kill them off the third time was a charm as on the powerplay with Toronto focused on shutting down Nick Suzuki Tyler Toffoli would be left all alone and with Jack Campbell unable to track the puck Toffoli would send the puck into the open goal leveling the game at ones collecting his 28^th goal of this season. With the game now tied teams would once again trade chances as both Allen and Campbell would turn away breakaways and other dangerous opportunities. The injury bug would but Toronto as Nick Foligno would be in an awkward collision that sent him limping to the dressing room and he would not return. So, with the playoffs right around the corner the Leafs are without Bogosian, Zach Hyman who has returned to skate, Justin Holl would miss last nights game after getting a puck in the face the last game he however is expecting to return shortly. Of course, Freddie Andersen’s return is unknown with him practicing with the team but now we wait on the extent of Foligno’s situation. With the injury news out of the way lets return to some more positive news and that is the Leafs would retake the lead late in the second period after Joe Thornton would send the puck to Jake Muzzin who would see his point shot deflected by Auston Matthews showing off some great hand eye coordination giving Auston his 39^th goal to continue leading the league and on this goal, Joe Thornton would receive an assist extending Jumbo’s point streak to six games. Before I go any further can I ask the NHL to just hand Auston Matthews the Rocket Richard Trophy now? This guy is unreal.

The third period would start with the visiting Leafs ahead 2-1 they would begin playing a good defensive game with help from Jack Campbell who once again would come up with some massive saves keeping Montreal searching for another tying goal. Early in the final period Toronto would find themselves short handed once again as Nylander would get called for tripping giving Montreal a huge opportunity to tie the game Toronto thankfully would go on and kill this penalty. I and I know many fans were angry with this penalty as Nylander’s stick never touched the skate of the Montreal player and the referee who made the call was looking directly at the play. On this case Toronto managed to survive the power play but there are so many times where terrible calls like this come back to hurt a team.

Now, with the Nylander penalty out of the way this Leafs would continue to wind down the clock in the third period and with the Montreal net now empty as Jake Allen would head to the bench Ilya Mikheyev had a chance to put the game out of reach with an empty net goal, but his attempt unfortunately would go wide giving Montreal another chance to even the score. With thirty seconds remaining Montreal would manage to get the tying goal they were looking for as Philip Danault after winning an important faceoff against Auston Matthews he would jam the puck through the five hole of Campbell tying the game at 2 thanks to his 5^th goal of the year. The remaining seconds of regulation would expire meaning overtime would be needed to decide a winner in this contest.

 

The three-on-three overtime would start off quickly as Toffoli would have a clear-cut breakaway, but his shot would go wide allowing Toronto to transition onto offense, but Montreal would regain procession and the Habs would just skate and then reset at center ice maintaining control of the puck like they did their previous game against Ottawa. This however would almost backfire as Marner would cause a turnover leaving he and Matthews skating on a two on none breakaway that would sadly see one to many passes and the Leafs fail to score. Montreal would once again return to the Toronto zone and Cole Caufield who netted his first career goal the other night in overtime against Ottawa would once again be the hero as his shot would beat a screened Jack Campbell who saw absolutely nothing and the Habs would win the game 3-2.

 

Although it was not the result Leaf fans were looking for but honestly, I would not worry to much about it the Leafs are one point closer to winning the division right now the Leafs focus needs to be getting bodies healthy for a post season run. With this win it is worth noting that the Montreal Canadiens have now moved into a tie for 3^rd in the North as last night Ottawa managed to beat Winnipeg pushing their losing streak to 7 games. Toronto’s next game will come Thursday night for game 2 against the Canadiens who will be on the second night of a back to back as the surging Canadiens will have a meeting with Ottawa on Wednesday and third place in the North on the line.