MONTREAL — The Toronto Maple Leafs sent 52 shots towards Carey Price’s net on Saturday night, forcing him to come up with 49 saves.
That was good enough to extend the Montreal Canadiens‘ win streak to a record-breaking nine in a row in regulation to start the season.
The Canadiens, on the second night of back-to-back games, were dominated in nearly every facet of the game. In addition to being badly out-shot, they were also out-hit and lost the majority of their faceoffs.
“I thought tonight, we were not good,” said Canadiens coach Michel Therrien. “[It’s] as simple as that. We were not the better team, we played against a team that’s got lots of energy tonight and we didn’t have much energy. Because of that we did some mental mistakes that usually we don’t do.”
But the Canadiens did do two things well: score on the power play and score shorthanded.
Montreal now hits the road for three games in Western Canada. Therrien says he looks forward to the warm reception the Canadiens always receive there, but knows they’re in for a big challenge.
Here are five takeways from Montreal’s 5-3 win:
Jonathan Bernier comes undone
Things started off so promising for Bernier, who was chasing his first-ever win at the Bell Centre in six attempts.
He robbed Devante-Smith Pelly on the game’s opening shift, he shut down chances for Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk shortly after, and then P.K. Subban managed to push a slap shot right through him to put the Canadiens up 1-love.
Bernier couldn’t be blamed on Eller’s second-period marker that put the Canadiens up 2-0.
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But after Toronto’s Leo Komarov narrowed the gap with a goal 43 seconds after Eller’s, David Desharnais banked one off Morgan Reilly to regain the two-goal lead.
Two minutes and 12 seconds later, James Van Riemsdyk found the back of the net to get Toronto back within striking distance.
But as the second period was nearing its end, Max Pacioretty pivoted to his left on a shorthanded two-on-one and floated a puck through Bernier’s legs. It was a backbreaking goal to allow.
“It’s a hard night for [Bernier] because the other guy stood on his head, right,” said Leafs coach Mike Babcock.
No one in the media scrum was nodding in agreement.
“Any time the other guy gets 52 shots and makes the saves he made,” Babcock continued. “In saying that, Bernier—when we came unraveled a little after the score got to be, I don’t know, 5-2—we gave up two breakaways Bernier made saves on.”
Surely, Bernier will appreciate the support from his coach. But when asked how he saw Pacioretty’s goal, the Leafs goaltender bristled and said, “I got a piece of it.”
It was a far cry from taking accountability for a less-than-stellar performance on his part.
Habs power play coming alive:
The Canadiens’ power play improved to 8-35 (23 per cent) with two goals from Subban and Gallagher Saturday.
“Too many times we’re holding pucks too long and we’re trying to set up one play or not use everybody on the ice,” said Pacioretty. “We’re using everybody right now, and it’s nice we’re getting quick attacks off that. And it’s not like we’ve been in the zone all the time on the power play; sometimes we’ve had to break out two, three times and then we have a quick strike after that.”
That’s exactly what happened on Montreal’s first power play goal, as Jeff Petry started the breakout after two failed attempts and the play ended with a perfect setup for Subban from Pacioretty.
As for Montreal’s second power play goal, Therrien provided a perfect explanation for why Gallagher was able to tip Subban’s shot in.
“We’re moving the puck a lot more, we’re a lot more aggressive to the net, and the aggressiveness to the net is giving us the opportunities to score,” said Therrien.
This approach was precisely how the Canadiens scored two power play goals in Buffalo Friday night.
Morgan Rielly stands out
Toronto’s first round selection at the 2012 NHL Draft (5th overall) showed signs of brilliance in Saturday’s loss.
Rielly took 40 shifts to lead the Leafs in ice-time (25:00), scored a goal and was dangerous every time he was on the ice.
He’s 161 games into his NHL career, and at 21 years old, he’s clearly establishing himself as a no. 1 defenceman.
Rielly believes Babcock has already played a big hand in bringing him to the next level.
“We’ve had some good meetings and had some good conversations,” he said. “He’s a great teacher and he’s doing a great job with me and this group. We obviously really respect him and he’s doing everything he can to help us win.”
Rough night for P.A. Parenteau
He was hoping Saturday night’s game in front of friends and family in his native Quebec would offer him redemption after the Canadiens bought out the remaining $4 million on his contract on June 29.
Instead, Parenteau only managed one shot on net—a floater on the power play—and finished minus-2.
Considering the Leafs outscored Montreal 3-2 at even strength, that’s not a particularly flattering statistic.
Phaneuf’s ill-timed penalty
He took a hit from Montreal’s Dale Weise. It was a routine hit, but Dion Phaneuf fell to the ice, and when he got up he couldn’t control the impulse to go after Weise.
Did Babcock have a word with his captain about the cross-checking infraction that led to Montreal’s fifth goal?
“I think we’ll just keep that all between us, but obviously he can’t take that penalty,” said Babcock.
Phaneuf had taken responsibility for a bad decision on his part just moments before Babcock gave his press conference. He felt that Weise had embellished on the play, but agreed that his reaction was unacceptable.
