Toronto Maple Leafs wins 5-4 against the Montreal Canadiens
Another one of the interesting game of Thursday was the Montreal Canadiens playing host to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Centre Bell Arena. The game was very interesting considering the fact that two points were crucial for the Maple Leafs to near the play-off
cut while the Canadiens wanted to cement their position in the play-offs further.
The Maple Leafs was able to pull away from the Canadiens as they scored quite a few goals during the course of the first period to lead 3-1 as the period ended. Though the Canadiens scored the first goal but the away side was regrouped and dominated the
period. The game ended with the Maple Leafs winning 5-4 in the end. Phil Kessel, winger of the Maple Leafs was named the star of the game as he was involved in four Maple Leafs goals scoring two and assisting in the other two.
Both teams made a strong start both offensively and defensively. There were several chances for both teams to score. However, the Canadiens scored the first goal in the 6th minute to get into the lead. The goal was scored by Jeff Halpern from
a brilliant flick shot.
The Maple Leafs was able to respond to this with some strong attacking and successfully levelled the scores scoring through Phil Kessel. The goal was scored through a well placed flick shot in the 8th minute during power play. A few minutes later,
Kessel was again on target and scored another power play goal to put the Maple Leafs in the lead in the 13th minute.
The Maple Leafs was keen on finishing the job in the first period and scored once again in the very next minute through Brett Ledba from a decent strike to double their lead. The period ended with the Maple Leafs leading 3-1.
During the course of the first period the Maple Leafs made 12 goal attempts while the Canadiens ended up making 13 goal attempts but couldn’t find the back of the net.
The Canadiens started off the second period as stronger of the two teams on the offence. The dominated the game early and scored two goals in succession to level the scores. The goals were scored in the 4th and 5th minutes by Michael
Cammalleri and James Wisniewski from a powerful strike.
The Canadiens continued to pile pressure until the time when the Maple Leafs came across power play. The Maple Leafs had a chance to go ahead and this certainly what they did. They scored through Tyler Bozak from a quick fired shot to get back into the lead.
The period ended with the Maple Leafs leading 4-3. The period saw the Maple Leafs making five goal attempts while the Canadiens made 10 goal attempts.
The final period was evenly matched by both the sides as there were shots on goal every now and then and some brilliant pieces of play were constructed by both. Tyler Bozak scored his second of the night in the 5th minute to double Maple Leafs
advantage.
The shots kept on pile and the Canadiens scored in the 18th minute through Max Pacioretty from a decent flick shot. Though it was a matter of a single goal but the Canadiens couldn’t score to level the scores.
Resultantly, the Maple Leafs won the game 5-4 in the end. The final 20 minutes of play saw the Canadiens making 12 goal attempts while the Maple Leafs made 11 goal attempts.
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