He Has 40 in 49

 

 

Before I talk about last night’s Leaf game I want to give a stick tap to Canada’s U-18 team who last night in Frisco Texas team Canada lead by the likes of Connor Bedard and future number one selection Shane Wright lead Canada to gold after beating a very strong Russian team by a score of 5-2 I admittedly didn’t watch every game but from the games I saw the Canada team was highly skilled and extremely talented and this team was able to end their eight year gold medal drought so again great job team Canada.

 

Last night the Montreal Canadiens squared off against the Maple Leafs in the second game of their three-game miniseries this time the teams would square of in Toronto. The Toronto Maple Leafs would have Jack Campbell once again starting in goal looking to rebound from an overtime loss Monday night against these Canadiens and Montreal after losing 5-1 in Ottawa Wednesday night would have 21-year-old Cayden Primeau who has become the number two goalie on the depth chart with Carey Price dealing with concussion issues. Tonight, we would also see the Leafs debut of Stefan Noesen who was acquired from the San Jose Sharks at the April 12^th Trade Deadline.

Things got off to a bad start for Cayden and the Canadiens as just 16 seconds into the game William Nylander and John Tavares would both collect an assist on a goal by Alex Galchenyuk who would give the Leafs the early 1-0 lead after sending a backhand shot into the net.  Despite having the early lead thanks to Galchenyuk’s 5^th of the season, it would be the visitors that would have the better start as Toronto would at times be scrambling in their end of the ice forcing Jack Campbell to make a few big saves. A few minutes later though Toronto would double their lead as Jake Muzzin would send a point short on goal that Primeau was unable to get control of giving up a rebound that John Tavares would chip into the Montreal goal for his 18^th goal and second point in under five minutes of action. Five minutes in struggles for Montreal would continue as Toronto would head to the man advantage with Jake Evans serving a minor for tripping. The Leafs powerplay as we know has struggled big time but last night on this opportunity although they were not able to score the Leafs had plenty of possession and would generate a great chance to score as Alex Kerfoot would come streaking in on the Habs goal only to have the puck ring off the post. As I mentioned although the Leafs were unable to add to their lead on the powerplay sometimes as a coach you are satisfied with your special teams play when your play can help generate momentum that carries over too five on five play and that is what happened after the Evans penalty as Pierre Engvall would come down the wing on the near boards with a scoring chance that saw his first shot turned aside by the young Montreal goalie but Engvall would light the lamp for the 5th time this season giving Jason Spezza and defenseman TJ Brodie assists. The scoring for the home town Maple Leafs as a fourth goal would be tallied as with three minutes remaining in the opening period Mitch Marner would show off his unbelievably skilled hands as he would weave through traffic and slide the puck over the goal line  for his 19^th goal of the year and assisting on the play was Joe Thornton who once again was on the first line in the absence of Nick Foligno but with this assist Thornton extended his point streak to seven consecutive games. Mercifully for the young Cayden Primeau the first period would end, and the Leafs would be leading by a score of 4-0.

 

In the intermission cameras would show an obviously disappointed Pirmeau receiving encouragement from his teammates but Jake Allen would come in, in relief and this was 100% the right decision for the Montreal coach to make because with Cayden being just 21 years old his career is going to be a long one and by no means am I putting him at fault for the four goal deficit but you as coach do not want anymore goals to go in because aside from the hole your team has to climb out of you by no means want to risk damaging a young goalies confidence. So, with all that said Jake Allen would step between the pipes. Allen would do his job and stop the bleeding by making important saves to settle his team down and it would help get Montreal on the board as some forechecking pressure by the trailing Habs would cause Rasmus Sandin to make a young players mistake turning the puck over to veteran Corey Perry who would send a beautiful saucer pass over the stick of Travis Dermott to Cole Caufiled who knows when you go to the net good things happen and he would score his 3^rd career goal cutting Toronto’s lead to 4-1. Both teams would again trade scoring chances, but the score would remain 4-1 after 40 minutes of action.

Going into this game Auston Matthews was sitting on 39 goals hoping to hit the 40-goal milestone but he would have to wait a little longer as it would be Montreal cutting Toronto’s lead in half as Artturi Lehkonen would be left alone by Pierre Engvall and would shovel in the rebound from a Tyler Toffoli shot for Lehkonen’s 6^th goal of the season. With Montreal now trailing by only two goals they would be pressing to even the score because Montreal only needs one single point to clinch a playoff spot but as the pressure would rise from the Canadiens Jack Campbell would calm the situation with his solid goaltending where he would freeze play when needed allowing the Leafs to keep fresh troops on the ice as they would work the clock down to zero.

With 15 minutes played the wait for 40 goals was over as after receiving a pass from Jake Muzzin Mitch Marner would drop the puck back to a waiting Matthews would beat Allen with a shot through the five-hole giving Auston 40 goals in 49 games making him the second fastest Leaf to hit that total next to the Big M Frank Mahovlich who in the 60-61 season would reach the 40-goal mark in 48 games played.

With Toronto now leading and the game out of reach the Maple Leafs would go on and win this game by that same 5-2 score and with the second place Edmonton Oilers losing 6-3 to Vancouver Toronto’s lead now grows to 10 points on the North Division and the Leafs now only needing 2 points in their three remaining games to win the regular season Division championship.

These two rivals will meet for the final time this season Saturday night before likely meeting in the opening round of the upcoming post season. Also, before I wrap up this article, I want to let readers know that goalie Freddie Andersen who has been off the ice for six weeks with an injury began his conditioning stint with the Marlies appearing in his first of three likely games where in a period in a half he made 12 saves on 14 shots allowing two goals. I would not read too much into this short appearance as it is Andersen’s first game action since going down with the leg injury.