Toronto Maple Leafs avoid third loss with Mikhail Grabovski's OT winner against Montreal Canadiens
Toronto is close to reaching the top spot of the Eastern Conference and ensured on Saturday night that they would not lose as Mikhail Grabovski scored the game-winner in overtime as the Maple Leafs edged the Montreal Canadiens, 5-4, at the sold-out Bell
Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
After assisting the equalising shot during the final period as Nikolai Kulemin scored with less than seven minutes remaining to tie the match and force an overtime extension giving the visiting team another chance, Grabovski made sure that his hard work
did not go to waste.
"We played hard all game", Grabovski said. "It was a good game for both teams. But for us, we try to win every game and keep going. We lost against Boston and we tried to win tonight. We listened to what the coach said to us and we played hard and we won".
Montreal took an early lead as Travis Moen made his third goal of the season with Brian Gionta on the bench for interfering with Toronto’s goaltender, making the home team shorthanded.
"We have to be positive, that’s all you can do", Moen said about Montreal’s disappointing start to the new season thus far. "We’ve got a big week coming up and we need some wins. We need a little more desperation in our game, and if we do that we should
be fine".
David Steckel capitalised on their second power play opportunity of the match with Montreal’s Andreas Engqvist being sent to the benches with a minor penalty for high-sticking.
Andrei Kostitsyn scored 29 seconds into the second followed by two straight goals by Toronto as Phil Kessel fired unassisted on a breakaway for his eighth goal nearly 36 seconds later and Dion Phaneuf on another power play before the five-minute mark on
another power play.
Montreal had the home crowd roaring with joy as Mike Cammalleri levelled the contest, 3-3, and Moen with his second to take the lead with a little more than 10 minutes remaining to play, but with Kulemin forcing overtime and Grabovski making the game-winner
in the five-minute extension, the Canadiens faced their fifth straight loss.
Toronto Maple Leafs hope on continuing their winning streak against Philadelphia Flyers on Monday while Florida Panthers pay a visit to Montreal the same day.
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