Leafs Have Montreal Facing Elimination

 

Game four of the series went down last night once again from the Bell Centre and there was a lot at stake as Montreal was going in hoping to even the series forcing a 6^th game while the Leafs were looking to take a strangle hold on this series. Montreal would play this game without Aturri Lehkonen who had gotten injured the previous night and Jake Evans. Toronto would once again be without Nick Foligno as he remains day to day with a lower body injury. Toronto would make a few lineup changes as Riley Nash and Rasmus Sandin would sit this game out and, in their place, would be Adam Brooks and Defenseman Travis Dermott. A big question surrounding this game was if goalie Jack Campbell was going to be able to perform as he had never played back-to-back for the Leafs since stepping in as the new number one goalie.

 

In the pregame show it was noted that Montreal’s Josh Anderson said everyone should expect a hungry Canadiens team but right from the opening faceoff it would be the Leafs playing with the upper hand. With just a few minutes played Toronto would head to the man advantage and it would be the Leafs with some quality chances on the power play and one of those chances would be Jason Spezza sneaking behind the Canadiens defense and streaking in on a breakaway, but his attempt would be stopped by Montreal’s Carey Price. Both teams would trade a few chances, but the first period would end with the game awaiting its opening goal.

 

The second period last night was the coming out party for the one-time Montreal Canadiens draft pick Alex Galchenyuk. He would make an impact on the game right away as just ninety seconds into the second frame as Alex Kerfoot would skate into the Montreal zone and send a pass to Galchenyuk who would send a backhand pass to William Nylander who would send the puck into the net to give Toronto the 1-0 lead giving Nylander four goals in the first four playoff games matching Leaf fan favorite Wendel Clark who managed to do it during the 1986 Playoffs. With Toronto now leading 1-0 they would continue to press for more offense but would also find themselves shorthanded now and then. The Leafs penalty killing play has been great during this current stretch and in this second period they managed to continue their strong defensive play and managed to shut down Montreal’s power play. It was not easy however as Branden Gallagher would have a dangerous opportunity on the power play that would see his shot beat Campbell, but the puck would hit the post and stay out allowing Toronto to clear the puck and kill off the remaining seconds of Montreal’s man advantage. Midway through the middle frame the Canadiens would have a few dangerous opportunities of their own, but Jack Campbell would calmly turn them aside and Toronto’s Galchenyuk would take the puck out of the Leafs end and would come streaking down the wing on a 2 on 1 rush with Jason Spezza joining him. Alex would then send a saucer pass over to Spezza and he would chip the puck over the glove side shoulder of Price and double the Maple Leafs lead with his second goal of the series giving the Leafs a 2-0 lead. A few short minutes later the visiting Leafs would once again be on the man advantage, but it would not get off to a great start as Montreal would go on the attack shorthanded with a potential 3 on 2 rush developing. There would be some controversy on this play as Montreal’s Paul Byron would be tripped up and surprisingly no penalty would be called. With a little over forty seconds remaining on the Toronto power play Joe Thornton would rush down the ice into the Canadiens zone he would drop the puck back for Alex Kerfoot who would then send the puck to Jason Spezza, Now it was here that I thought Spezza would take a shot on goal but instead the veteran would see Jumbo Joe driving to the net so Spezza would send a rocket of a pass Thornton’s way and St Thomas Ontario native Joe Thornton would redirect the Spezza pass into the net for his first of the playoffs, the teams third powerplay marker giving Toronto a 3-0 lead against their rivals the Montreal Canadiens. It was mentioned on the broadcast that with the powerplay goal Joe Thornton became the oldest Maple Leaf to score a goal in the postseason.

 

The Leafs would start the final period of last night’s contest with their 3-0 lead intact but something that I hope improves for game five and however long this playoff run lasts is how the Leafs play in the third period because like game three where Toronto was outshot 15-2 Montreal outshot Toronto once again this time it was 14-4 giving a two-period total of 29-6. Despite being outshot for a second straight third period Toronto would once again show their strong defensive play as they were able to keep Montreal along the perimeter and in low scoring areas making the save opportunities rather easy for the Leafs netminder, but my concern is being outshot in the third period will eventually catch up to you and potentially cost your team a deserved win. None the less Toronto would keep up their solid play and wind the clock down and with Carey Price once again on the bench the Maple Leafs would put this game away for good as after both Zach Hyman and Auston Matthews would miss their attempts on the open Montreal goal Alex Galchenyuk would show his teammates how it is done as he would collect his first goal of the playoffs capping off his three-point evening.

The Maple Leafs would go on and win this game by a final score of 4-0 giving them a commanding 3-1 series lead and Jack Campbell became the first Maple Leafs goalie to get a shutout in the playoffs against Montreal since the legend Johnny Bower did it in game 2 against Montreal in 1967.

Toronto will now head home and prepare for game 5 where they look to finish off the series allowing them to move onto the second round for the first time since 2004. Toronto is going to have to be prepared for a desperate Montreal Canadiens team on Thursday because if Montreal is able to force a 6^th game they will have 2,500 fans in the Bell Centre for that game and obviously Montreal will want to put on a show for their fans in that 6^th game but of course time will tell.