Anderson and Habs Win Rematch

 

 I want to start by saying sorry for this article being posted a little late I recorded the Leafs game and finished it this morning because last night while the Leafs were playing, Monday Night Football had the Dallas Cowboys play the Philadelphia Eagles and for me that game was a little more interesting and after a 41-21 win, this morning I am one happy Cowboys fan.

With that out of the way onto the Leafs game, Monday saw the Leafs travel to the Bell Centre for a rematch with their long time rivals the Montreal Canadiens. For this game we would see some familiar faces as Jack Campbell would get the start in goal, but we would see Reilly, Dermott, Holl, and Simmons make their preseason debut. The rest of the lineup consisted of players auditioning for spots likely on the Marlies. Montreal would have Jake Allen start the game and with Price recovering from, yet another injury Allen will likely be the starter for the Habs for the foreseeable future.

The first period would start and early in the opening frame things looked positive for the visiting Leafs as they would quickly grab an advantage in shots and collect some decent scoring chances. One came from Ilya Mikheyev who once again was in the lineup had a dangerous opportunity as he would streak in only to see Jake Allen make the save on Ilya’s chance a sight that has become all too familiar for him and Leaf fans watching along. Unfortunately for Toronto penalties would become an issue as Brett Seney would be called for tripping a penalty Toronto would kill off but just a few minutes later Morgan Reilly would be sent to the box for cross checking. This penalty would be scored on as while in the Toronto Montreal’s Josh Anderson would collect a lose puck off Justin Holl’s skate and roof it passed Jack Campbell giving the hosts and their 7500 fans in attendance a reason to cheer. With Toronto now trailing looking for the equalizer when the play was 5 on 5 Toronto looked pretty good spending quite a lot of time in the offensive zone moving the puck well and gathering scoring chances but just before the midway point once again the Leafs would find themselves shorthanded as David Kompf who the Leafs signed in Free Agency would be called for high sticking. Montreal would cash in on this their third of four power plays in the opening period. Montreal’s power play marker would be scored by Christian Dvorak who Montreal acquired via trade from Arizona for his first goal as a member of the Canadiens all be it preseason, but this goal was the result of a beautiful passing play with Joel Armia and the returning Johnathan Drouin. As a hockey fan after hearing about Drouin who left the Habs last season battling anxiety and other health issues it’s great to see him healthy and back in the league because he is an entertaining player to watch. The Canadians would see their 2 goal lead carry into the intermission but before we got there, we would see some rough stuff as Montreal’s Jake Evans a key part of the penalty kill would be handed four minutes in penalties as he would get called for roughing on Adam Brooks and then seconds later get called for boarding after shoving Justin Holl into the boards from behind. Former Bruin and now Maple Leaf Nick Ritchie would take exception to this and drop the gloves with Ben Chiarot who was sticking up for a fallen teammate but also trying to spark his team for the next period.

Period two would see the Leafs start with a four-minute man advantage but despite some good zone time and a late chance from Mitch Marner Toronto was unable to get on the board and the four minutes would expire. With Toronto still searching for their first goal of the contest Montreal would see their lead grow to three as Toronto native and member of the Laval Rocket Michael Pazzetta would deflect a point shot from Ben Chiarot passed Campbell and into the net. This would see a goalie change for both teams as Petr Mrazak would make his Leafs debut after signing a 3-year contract for Toronto when Free Agency opened. For Montreal Laval Rocket goalie Kevin Poulin would step in for the remainder of the game. Shortly after the goalie change Toronto would have a scoring chance off the rush and Mitch Marner would set up Adam Brooks for his first of the preseason and their first of the game but Montreal would challenge the goal and it turned out Brooks prior to the goal was just offside as they entered the Montreal zone. With the goal being called back Toronto and their fans would have to wait for their team to get on the board. Thankfully the wait wouldn’t be long as not two minutes later with the puck dumped into the Montreal end Kevin Poulin would come out to play the puck but just like Saturday playing the puck would be an issue for Montreal’s goalies as Poulin would fan on clearing the puck and David Kompf would score the easiest goal he’d ever had as he would just poke the lose puck into the net finally getting Toronto on the board. Toronto would see their deficit grow to three once again as Toronto would once again be shorthanded just minutes later for a faceoff violation. Montreal would capitalize on the opportunity thanks to Josh Anderson as he would fire a wrist shot passed Mrazek beating him clean for his second goal of the evening. With Toronto once again trailing by three they would look for an answer and hopefully find their way back into this game. In the final minute of the second period Toronto would cut Montreal’s lead in half as Toronto would control the play five on five and Travis Dermott would work the puck down low to Morgan Reilly who sent the puck across to Ondrej Kase who would slide the puck into the goal and after 40 minutes of play Toronto would be trailing by a score of 4-2.

Ondrej Kase is an interesting player for Toronto this is a player that at one point as a member of the Anaheim Ducks scored twenty goals but battled injuries and the injury bug stayed with him during his time as a Boston Bruin, but the Leafs are hoping that he can stay healthy because when he’s 100% he can be productive, and this could be a benefit for Toronto.

The final period of regulation for the most part wouldn’t be very eventful but there were a few highlights as Montreal’s Josh Anderson would be searching for his third goal to complete the hat trick, but Mrazek would have an answer each time as he would flash the leather with a few glove saves that are likely going to appear on the highlight shows on TSN and Sportsnet. The Leafs however were unable to get any closer to their rivals and in the final minutes of play Toronto would have their net empty and Montreal would rub salt in the wound as Michael Pazzetta would score his second of the night by adding an empty net tally and Montreal would go on and win this game by a score of 5-2.

The Leafs will now wait untill Wednesday to return to action when they square off with the Ottawa Senators who thanks to their young talent are on the rise so with Toronto having the night off fans can sit and watch the Toronto Blue Jays as they continue their push for a Wild Card spot and a postseason birth as they start a crucial three game series against the Bronx Bombers, the New York Yankees.

As always thanks for reading and I’ll be back Wednesday night to discuss this upcoming Battle of Ontario.