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.
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