Toronto Maple Leafs open new season with a win at home against the Montreal Canadiens
After eight consecutive losses to start the season last year the Toronto Maple Leafs kicked off their new season on the right foot with a 3-2 win at home against the Montreal Canadiens.
How it went down
The Maple Leafs opened the scoring early on a goal from the unlikely source of Tim Brent who hadn't scored since the 2006-2007 season when he was playing for the Anaheim Ducks. Just over two minutes later Phil Kessel made it 2-0 inside the first ten minutes
when he came in on a breakaway before squeezing the puck past Canadiens goalie Carey Price.The Canadiens got a lifeline when their hard working off-season acquisition Dustin Boyd put in his own rebound on a wrap around to make it 2-1.
There was no more scoring until early in the third period when Clarke MacArthur made Canadiens defenceman Jaroslav Spacek look like a pylon before firing a backhand shot past Price. The Canadiens responded right away on a goal by their other off-season pick-up,
Jeff Halpern. The Canadiens ended the game with pressure after pulling their goalie but J.S. Giguere was solid in the net for Toronto and helped them pick up the win.
What they're saying
The Maple Leafs know that getting off to a good start is always important, but aren't going to let themselves get carried away.
"It's a big win for our team," Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf said. "It's a divisional game against a team that has a lot of speed and a lot of skill, so it was good test for us."
"It's one game, we're not going to get carried away," head coach Ron Wilson said, "We'll have to banish all the newspapers from the room tomorrow and make sure all the TVs are turned off, because I'm sure some people are already planning the (Stanley Cup)
parade."
What's next
The Maple Leafs find themselves in unfamiliar territory – undefeated and leading the division. They'll be looking to justify that position when they host the battle of Ontario on Saturday night against the Ottawa Senators who will be playing on back-to-back
nights as they face the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night.
The Montreal Canadiens will be hoping the return of forward Mike Cammalleri, who was suspended for the first game of the season, can give the Canadiens a boost as they will be looking to bounce back, and will be hoping for a big performance, as they travel
to the brand new state-of-the-art Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh to take on the 0-1 Penguins.
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