Leafs Stand Tall in Game 3

 

So, Leaf fans how are you feeling after last night? How is your heart? Last night’s game was intense especially in the third period. Let’s talk about it shall we? Last night from the Bell Centre in Montreal game three of this exciting series took place and I know I am not alone in this, but it is a real shame these games have been played in an empty building because both buildings would have been an incredible atmosphere if they were full. Game three goalies were once again Jack Campbell and Carey Price. I also would like to mention that after warmups it was reported that Center Nick Foligno would be ruled out with a lower body injury and will be a game time decision for game 4 so in his place would be Riley Nash. Montreal would also bit hit with an injury as Eric Stall would miss the game last night and prospect Cole Caufield would slot into the Montreal line up in Stall’s spot.

The first period of this game would open with teams feeling each other out as there were not too many aggressive plays attempted but that does not mean the two clubs did not have their chances because early in the first period Montreal would head to the power play for four minutes as Alex Galchenyuk would be served a double minor for high sticking. Montreal despite having a great opportunity to open the scoring for a third straight game but Toronto’s penalty killing as it has for most of the regular season and so far in this postseason stood tall and were able to kill off the entire for minutes. Toronto would then begin to spend time in the Habs end of the ice as the first period went on and collect chances that Carey Price would manage to keep the puck out of his net with some big saves. A perfect example of this would be midway through the opening frame the Toronto Maple Leafs would be on a power play of their own with Montreal receiving a delay of game penalty midway through the period William Nylander would come skating down the middle of the slot he would then send the puck over to Jason Spezza waiting at the side of the net and with Price completely out of position and a wide open net Jason who thought he had a sure goal would see Carey Price dive back and make an amazing stick save to keep the game tied at zero. I am going to say it now that stick save is the best of the playoffs and it will be shown on highlight reels untill the end of time. The two teams would head to the locker room after the opening 20 minutes with the game scoreless.

 

Period number two we would see Toronto begin to put their foot down and start to grab control of this game as they would start piling up the chances and with just over seven minutes played the Leafs would open the scoring as Alex Kerfoot would win a faceoff in the Montreal zone, William Nylander would collect the puck and from the high slot with traffic Nylander would fire the puck on goal and thanks to a deflection off Ben Chairot the puck would find its way through Carey Price and with Willy’s third goal in as many games the visiting Leafs would hold a 1-0 lead. After this goal we would see an unbelievable sequence from Toronto where they spent an abundant amount of time keeping Montreal hemmed in their zone, but Toronto was unable to find the back of the net for the important second goal. After surviving wave after wave of pressure Montreal was able to get out of their end and into the Toronto end of the rink and in fact Nick Suzuki would get the Canadiens on the board with his first od the playoffs as he would beat Jack Campbell blocker side with a shot tying the game at ones. Now regarding this goal, I had many people tell me that Campbell should have stopped the shot. Of course, he would want that shot back his job is to stop the puck, but the bigger issue is how Morgan Reilly played his position. Now if you are learning to play the game as a defenseman you are always told to play the man and not the puck on this goal Reilly hesitated and decided to attempt a poke check and obviously it failed as the game was tied. What Reilly should have done was step up and take the body because doing this would have taken away any space for Suzuki and the shot attempt would have either been stopped or go wide. A few minutes later however Reilly would redeem himself as Morgan Reilly would work a give a go play with Mitch Marner and after Morgan would make his way towards the Montreal net Marner would send a pass across the ice back to Reilly who would fire a wrist on goal beating Price glove side to give once again the Toronto Maple Leafs the 2-1 lead. The remaining few minutes of the second period would run down and the Leafs would be holding a 2-1 lead.

 

The third period for Leaf fans had to be incredibly stressful because for the entire twenty minutes of the final period it was all Montreal as they would outshoot the Leafs by a total of 15-2 but thanks to great goaltending by Campbell and some reliable defensive play Toronto was able to keep the Canadiens from leveling the game at twos.  There were so many close calls for Montreal to level the game but Jack Campbell like he has done all season when the pressure was too high, he would freeze the play to slow things down allowing his team to change lines keeping fresh players on the ice. As the third period would wind down the desperation level for Montreal would rise as Cole Caufield would have high quality scoring chances turned aside thanks to some great shot blocking and Jack Campbell continuing to close the door. With a little over two minutes remaining Montreal would call Price to the bench bringing on the extra attacker with Montreal once again pressing for the equalizing goal. The most dangerous scoring chance for Montreal would come in the final minute of regulation as Corey Perry would pass the puck across to Nick Suzuki who was waiting at the side of the goal for what would have surely been an easy tap in goal nut thankfully for the Leafs and their fans the puck bounced over Suzuki’s stick and Toronto would go on to clear the puck relieving the pressure momentarily. Eventually after a key shot block from Toronto’s Justin Holl time would expire and the Toronto Maple Leafs would hang on for the game three victory grabbing a 2-1 series lead in the process.

In closing with his go-ahead goal in the second period Morgan Reilly is the first Leaf Defenseman to get credit for a winning goal in the postseason since Bill Barilko scored in 1951 to beat Montreal for the Stanley Cup that season and in fact last night’s win was the first playoff win in Montreal since 1967 when they won their last Stanley Cup so the history making this team had done in the regular season has carried over into the playoffs. There is a quick turnaround for the two teams as Game 4 of this first round series goes tonight in Montreal as the Canadiens will look to level the series forcing a sixth game or if Toronto wins their long-time rivals will be on the brink of elimination. All I know is tonight’s game will be just as exciting as the previous games in this series.