Leafs claw back from two goals twice, beat Habs on penalties

Field Level Media|published: Wed 11th October, 22:34 2023

Oct 11, 2023; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Tyler Bertuzzi (59) battles for the puck with Montreal Canadiens right wing Josh Anderson (17) in front of Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen (34) during the first period at Scotiabank Arena. credits: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

Mitchell Marner scored the only goal in a shootout, and the Toronto Maple Leafs came back from two goals down on two different occasions to defeat the visiting Montreal Canadiens 6-5 Wednesday night.

Auston Matthews scored three goals for Toronto, including two late in the third period to tie the game.

Noah Gregor and William Nylander also scored for the Maple Leafs. John Tavares added three assists, while John Klingberg had two.

Alex Newhook scored twice for Montreal. Jake Evans, Cole Caufield and Jesse Ylonen also scored for the Canadiens, with Kirby Dach adding two assists.

Ilya Samsonov made 19 saves for Toronto.

Jake Allen stopped 37 shots for Montreal.

Evans scored at 3:01 of the first period. Toronto defenseman TJ Brodie fell at the Montreal blue line, and Evans pounced on the loose puck, having a clear path to the Toronto net before flipping in an 11-foot wrist shot.

The Canadiens took advantage of an odd-man break from their own end to take a 2-0 lead at 1:10 of the second period. Juraj Slafkovsky set up Newhook with a pass to the edge of the crease.

Montreal put the puck in the net again at 5:35 of the second, but a video review determined that the play was offside.

Gregor scored on a 35-foot shot from the left faceoff circle at 7:46 of the second to bring the Leafs within one..

Toronto tied the game during a power play at 14:51 of the second when Matthews scored his 300th career goal on a 20-footer from the right circle. Newhook was off for tripping.

Toronto led 3-2 on Nylander's power-play goal at 19:15 of the second on a 43-foot slap shot from the left circle. Evans was serving a holding penalty.

Montreal scored twice early in the third period to regain the lead. Caufield's shot was deflected by a Toronto defenseman at 4:25 on a power play to tie the game. Tyler Bertuzzi was serving a slashing penalty. Newhook tipped in a shot by Arber, and Ylonen netted his first of the year at 11:55 of the third to give the Habs a three-goal lead.

Matthews scored at 15:28 with Samsonov for an extra attacker. Matthews scored again with Samsonov out at 18:53 to send the game to an extra period.

Samsonov saved Monteal's last penalty shot attempt to cement the win for the Maple Leafs,

—Field Level Media

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