NHL Update: Toronto Maple Leafs knock off Montreal Canadiens, 5-4
Phil Kessel scored twice and added two assist, as Toronto Maple Leafs held on for a 5-4 victory over Montreal Canadiens, at Bell Centre on Thursday night.
Tyler Bozak also lit the lamp twice and had an assist for Toronto, which has won four of five games to move into the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference.
Brett Lebda also tallied a goal and an assist, while James Reimer made 31 saves to earn the win.
"It's a big win for us after being shutout in Montreal the past two times," said Kessel. "A big win with 21 games left. This keeps us right in it. Our lines played good again and I hope we can keep this going."
Mike Cammalleri and Jeff Halpern both found the net and collected an assist for Montreal, which has lost four of its previous five contests. Max Pacioretty and James Wisniewski each also potted a goal in the losing effort.
"They did some good things in the first, but we weren't that bad," said Cammalleri. "They had some big power-play goals. It's tough to win when you give up five."
Alex Auld was benched in the opening session after allowing three goals on nine shots. Carey Price replaced him and finished the game, surrendering two goals on 19 shots.
Canadiens drew first blood for 1-0 lead just 5:43 into the first period, as Halpern deflected a Roman Hamrlik’s shot past Auld.
However, Maple Leafs dominated the play by notching the next three goals for a 3-1 lead into the first stanza.
The first goal came just over two minutes later on a power play, as Kessel won a right circle face-off and fired the disc into the left corner of the net to tie the game at 1-1.
Just over four minutes later, Kessel struck again to make it 2-1 game when he skated with the puck out front and knocked it between Auld’s legs.
Lebda staked Toronto to a two-goal edge, 3-1, just 59 seconds later, as he ripped a wrist shot from the inside right circle that made its way through traffic and into the net.
Montreal then got the two goals back 20 seconds apart in the middle frame to knot it at 3-3.
The first goal came at 3:42 mark of the second period when Cammalleri snapped a wrist shot into the net from in front, and then Wisniewski blasted a slap shot from the right circle for a 3-3 deadlock.
Maple Leafs, though, went on top, 4-3, again on a power-play just 8 ½ minutes into the same period, as Bozak let go a one-time past Price.
Bozak scored his second goal of the game to restore Maple Leafs’ two-goal edge, 5-3, nearly 4 ½ minutes into the final period. The goal came when took a pass from Kessel and jammed it home for his 10th goal of the season.
Pacioretty made it one-goal game, 5-4, again when he tucked a rebound over Reimer, but Canadiens failed to pull an equalizer.
Tags: