Montreal Canadiens vs Toronto Maple Leafs
March 20, 2010, by Homme De Sept-Iles
Musings and In-Game Scribbles
My English is as good as yours, I just write these in a stream-of-consciousness mode that I insist excuses me from small things like rules of grammar or general etiquette. Let’s call it conversational English, hopped up on beans. You know what kind of beans (no, Carl Mellesmoen, not the magic ones).
Montreal Canadiens (36-29-6) visit Toronto Maple Leafs (25-34-12)
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Game Seventy-Two (score posted following scribbles)
Missed it? Musings capture the game in writing. Based on the RDS telecast, Musings take about 20 minutes to read. More detailed than an article, fresher than a looping highlight and good with morning coffee.
The Maple Leafs are not going to make the playoffs. Again. The lead-up to the game includes warnings from Alain Crete and Jacques Demers regarding the Leafs expected intensity tonight, regardless of their position in the standings.
Montreal’s recent winning is reviewed. The team has registered victories in seven of its last nine games including six wins in a row.
We get a shot of Leaf patriarch and GM Brian Burke and a reminder that both defenceman Dion Phaneuf and goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere have recently joined the Leafs; Phaneuf from the Flames and Giguere from some other team.
Oh yeah. The Ducks.
The Canadiens didn’t play Thursday, normally a game night for them. Pierre Houde and Benoit Brunet discuss this to start and Brunet agrees that at this time of year a break is a plus.
Halak starts his seventh straight game tonight. There is no question anymore, says Jacques. For now that is true. Why disturb the winning pattern?
But both goaltenders, Carey Price and Jaroslav Halak are capable starters and Price remains the goaltender with the greater upside.
The self-importance of the Maple Leafs is well-reflected in their All Access website page. What other team feels the need to use the term? And the term is nonsensical, besides. All Access.
To what? Twinkies? Private home videos? Tax statements?
The game is at the ACC and we will be putting up with a lot of self-aggrandizing gestures. The Leaf organization is very much a decaying monument to its own history. I mute the anthem and feel thankful that I don’t need to listen to biased Anglophone announcers tonight.
The young anthem singer truly believes her song rendition is meaningful. Jonas Gustavsson starts for Toronto in net.
First Period
Leafs win the faceoff and start out on the right side. Tyler Bozak tries a weak shot from outside the circle. Fails.
Canadiens set up. Centre Scott Gomez, winger Benoit Pouliot and Gionta. Puck falls to the blue line where Gionta fires long.
Gionta. Brian Gionta. Winger.
Leafs fans, reactionary rather than pro-active, begin chanting in response to some pro-Canadiens voices in the crowd. The Leaf-lung bowling-hat provio last(s) about six seconds before going back to their expensive programs and inexpensive delusions.
Action is slow.
Blue liners Ryan O’Byrne and Andrei Markov leave for Jaroslav Spacek and Roman Hamrlik.
Glenn Metropolit line is on. Mathieu Darche with him. Darche is allowed to curve in for the first chance of the evening. Nope.
Hitting increases; Leafs are the initiators. Solid checks.
Tomas Kaberle enters down the middle, carefully leaves a pass to his left. The incursion ends within four seconds and without a difficult shot against.
Sturdy Montreal centre Tomas Plekanec speeds in on the right. First player to skate at this high gear tonight. Shoots. Gustavsson looks behind him. But the goalie stopped it. He lost sight of it, though, and Plekanec is hectic at the side of the net, hacking at the puck again and again. But he fails to score.
Leafs respond with a rush of their own.
Figures rise and Halak makes a save. Faceoff soon afterward.
Benoit Brunet says that the Leafs have not a single thing to lose.
Pierre Houde announces that Garnet Exelby has been called for roughing. Exelby has a Lion mustache. BC Lion. It’s shaggy but appropriate.
Gomez is on the first wave. Metropolit accompanies with Gionta.
Markov and Hamrlik are the defensive pairing.
Leafs push the Habs out early.
Next segment turns into a two-on-one for the Leafs. Very good chance. Right to the lip of the crease where Halak has to make a medium-level stop.
With thirty seconds left in the penalty, Montreal’s second wave produces some complete passes and then a shot or two.
Whistle.
Replay shows that Metropolit could have been called on the Leaf two-on-one. Or so it seemed from that angle.
We resume with Montreal defenceman Josh Gorges starting the rush from behind the Montreal net.
Penalty ends.
Travis Moen is on. Sergei Kostitsyn is with him. From the right. IN with speed and alone because of it. Beats Gustavsson but can’t put it in. His momentum carried him through the crease.
On the other end, Halak smothers a crease chance.
We are shown a replay. Brunet says that Moen should have followed Kostitsyn’s entry on the side of the net chance.
We resume. Puck goes out of play after the faceoff.
Leafs win the faceoff. Long shot from the blue line by the Leafs goes out of play.
Leaf coach Ron Wilson seems the same as he did in October. The demeanour is unchanged.
The action increases in speed. Halak makes a good save on a forty-foot shot he saw all the way. On the other end, the Canadiens skate but Plekanec’ no-look pass results in the turnover that produces the rush for Toronto’s long shot. From the end line up to the blue.
Ten minutes left in the first period.
Tomas Kaberle supports his defence partner in the corner with Dominic Moore working to come up with it. And Moore does for a few unexpected and brief seconds.
Icing follows shortly afterward.
Metropolit wins the faceoff. Maxim Lapierre does some meaningless chasing and standing around waiting. There was effort but the error was in positioning decisions.
In ending his shift, he delivers a check after a puck leaves the area.
Houde says that the flow has been lost.
Halak freezes a puck.
Whistleblowers belong on the ice. But are they welcome in business? And in what ranks? The better the blow the less the flow.
Refs aren’t a part of the decrease in flow on the ACC surface. Nor is your scribe. We hope.
Canadiens levy some pressure.
Long shot. Leafs are occupied. It’s a good chance as the puck stays alive in the slot. But Gionta and Pouliot can’t get sticks on the bouncer.
They return to the bench and a faceoff is designated outside the Toronto blue line.
Crowd’s sense of expectation rises (like a crowd that has put up with lions long enough. They want to see an eating or a change of ring.
But the Leafs, though they sense the unease, can’t pull the leash tart nor can Montreal rise above their surroundings.
The crowd loses interest in motivational techniques and the game’s mood management returns to its players. The teams return to finding the scratched lines and space and laneways that will determine who emerges and from which set of paths.
Gustavsson stops play like an ignored child on the periphery of the playground. He is not yet a factor for good or ill.
Brian Burke will admit sooner rather than later that the game has passed him by. His gruff charisma has its charm but we are not the ones who decide lengths of tenure.
Gomez goes to the box for an elbow. Replay shows that he retaliated for something but Brunet calls it right; it’s a bad penalty as Gomez shouldn’t have responded.
Montreal defenceman, the hulking Hal Gill, makes the best early play, diving to poke a puck away.
Leafs control. Long shot. Big net. Rebound causes bright white flash lights. Big ones. Toronto scores. Forward Tyler Bozak. Wearing Wellwood’s old number.
Toronto 1, Montreal 0
Brunet reiterates that Gomez’ retaliation was a bad penalty and that it ruined an otherwise good period.
Just over three minutes in the first period. Moore and Sergei are on with Darche.
Spacek and Hamrlik get some help from Moore behind the end line and manage to move the puck out and dampen Toronto’s cheeks a bit.
Beauchemin is pushed down behind his net. No call. Leafs get it out. Maybe didn’t need to be a call on that, just looked like an ordinary shove.
Canadiens ice it now.
Leafs have the lead but the deflated building and the sagging play of the home team indicate otherwise. It’s noticeably odd. Under coach Pat Quinn and with hated Darcy Tucker and despised Tie Domi along with venerable captain Mats Sundin, the old Leafs of this decade, a 1-0 lead would have galvanized the arena. No more.
Faceoff is to Halak’s right.
Sticks connect and the puck floops to the slot where Montreal can control it and start a rush. After some dithering they do. But a disc goes long and Toronto starts out from behind their net.
Lines change.
Halak leaves it for a teammate. Rush. Starts slow. Increases. Gionta gets it. Off-wing. Accelerates.
Backhand. Beats Gustavsson. How did that go in? Brunet says it’s a puck that Gustavsson should have had. Seems so from the replay.
Montreal 1, Toronto 1
The exclamation from the Montreal fans in the crowd was sharper than I thought it would be. But also shorter.
Crowd’s silence has a reason now.
Time runs out on the period.
Brunet says that visually it was a very good period. For viewers, I mean. Uh. Yeah.
Leafs get 13 shots to Montreal’s 10.
First Intermission
Toronto 1, Montreal 1
Not much to report.
Second Period
Montreal 1, Toronto 1
Halak freezes the puck after a glove save in the first minute.
Faceoff is to his left.
Plekanec has to leave the circle. Tom Pyatt wins the draw for Montreal to Houde’s surprise.
Plekanec beats Phaneuf to the puck and pushes the bigger defender into the boards in an awkward head-first collision. Phaneuf gets up and seems unperturbed.
Faceoff soon afterward.
Andrei K is trying a thigh-up entry on the right side now that fails. He is trapped on the boards.
Leafs have it deep. Mikhail Grabovski does a three-quarter circle of the offensive zone with the puck which ends in a shot close-in for the Leafs. Puck can’t be frozen and the action continues.
Canadiens get out and drive down right side. Gustavsson makes the stop and holds it for a faceoff.
Moore takes the draw against Johnny Mitchell and loses it.
Canadiens keep it in along the opposite boards. Finally the Leafs move it up and out. Puck goes out of play in the neutral zone. Rather, it is a hand on the puck whistle.
Metropolit wins the faceoff. Around the boards it goes.
Darche sends it to Spacek. Canadiens get a speed rush. Final pass can’t be had but Kaberle is called for hooking Lapierre.
Montreal power-play features Gionta, Gomez and Metropolit on the first wave.
Gomez wins it and after three passes the Leafs are able to clear it out from the corner.
Dump-in is kept alive by Hamrlik on the blue line.
In the corner Gionta comes up to support. But the Leafs clear it out again.
Just over a minute left in the penalty and Gorges’ lob shot from just inside the Toronto blue is gloved and held by Gustavsson.
Second wave hops on. Plekanec and Pouliot with Andrei K.
Plekanec covers for a defensive pinch but the puck is cleared again. Turnover by Montreal caused it.
Twenty-five seconds. Canadiens can’t even move it into the Leafs zone now. Hansen and Mitchell are doing the good work says Brunet.
One last entry is rebuffed inside the blue line.
Penalty ends.
Gionta line is on.
Halak makes a light save.
Gionta enters. Tries a slot pass. Deflects away.
From the corner Gomez tries a pass to Darche in the slot. Leafs have good coverage again. Excellent defensive game from Toronto so far this period.
Moen line is on.
Sergei is skating with speed and purpose on the boards. To the blue line. Action stays in.
Back to Gorges. Shot along the ice. Blocked by a defender. Rebound is stifled by Gustavsson. Whistle.
Moen is being treated for a cut on his chin.
Faceoff is to Gustavsson’s left. Lapierre is taken down by a mild clothesline.
Leafs exit. Kessel shoots from the right side. High. Halak gets his arm and shoulder up for it.
Puck leaves and lines change.
Plekanec line is on.
Plekanec appears to get away with a stick on a Leaf. Hard to tell.
Montreal dump-in.
Andrei K loses another board battle.
Luke Schenn enters along the right. Tries a high, disrupted shot. Stopped.
Pouliot is in on the left side. Nothing.
Leafs send a long pass that is refused. Icing.
Moore wins the faceoff and sends it back for Gill. Whistle goes immediately. They have a redo.
Moore wins it as well but the Leafs are up to capture the puck and send it on its way.
It’s back in. And then lost along the boards.
Toronto rush. Halak is pushed into the net. Slot chance. Whistle. Call against Toronto. Goaltender interference.
Replay shows it’s a light contact. Christian Hanson. He maintains a resentful demeanour chewing his half-out mouthguard and sitting in the box.
Andrei cruises. To Pouliot in the under-circle. High. Captured. A bit difficult. Faceoff.
Pouliot picks it up from the draw and puts it to the point.
They move it around. Long shot from Markov. Off-point shot.
Back it goes to Markov. Shot hits bodies and the Leafs clear.
Minute in the infraction.
Slot puck. Nobody can capture it. Leafs move it out.
Metropolit, Gomez and Gionta are on the second wave.
Gomez has it under the end-line. Pass to the slot fails. Leafs are challenging and not staying in the box. Houde says the Leafs are defending their zone well. Brunet says they are very aggressive on the penalty kill and this is emblematic of Ron Wilson’s style.
Penalty ends.
Just under nine minutes left in the second period.
Canadiens struggle for the first time in their zone but the puck is a lucky one. And Vos Glorieux move out.
Leafs are back in. Grabovski line. Grabovski does some good work to retain the disc along the boards but a no-look pass is intercepted in the slot.
Canadiens can’t make much of it.
Leafs enter. Johnny Mitchell. One on three. He loses it but it’s kept in on the opposite side.
Leafs maintain control, stay ahead of the play.
They get a shot from the hash.
Plekanec rushes in response. But it ends as he crosses the Leaf blue.
Leafs are back and pressing. No shots, though. About six seconds and a successful point pass.
Canadiens are responding to the Leafs late period work ethic challenge.
Puck is in the neutral zone for a few seconds before Wallin enters and cuts dangerously (for all concerned) to the mid-slot. Shot doesn’t find its way to Halak.
Ten seconds later play is whistled in the neutral zone.
Centre ice faceoff. Leafs win it.
They are looking mobile and better-spaced than in the first period.
They are less nervous, less frenetic.
Moen line is on.
Lapierre tries a pass from the right boards; intercepted in the Toronto zone.
Leafs struggle to get it out and then the puck hits a stick, high, and the whistle goes.
Leafs are an extension of the Wilson personality even moreso than in November. No nonsense and no passengers. Takes time to change a culture. And it helps that certain Leaf knuckleheads and incompetents are gone.
Faceoff is outside the Montreal zone.
Plekanec loses it to Christian Hanson. Leafs fire it in. They are first to the puck on the opposite side.
Shot from the grille. And another shot from a bit further back by John Mitchell. Puck goes up and out of play.
We resume.
Canadiens gungle around and deeple the puck out. There are no words to describe this kind of work.
Leafs re-enter.
Canadiens aren’t challenging the Leafs enough. They seem to be playing down to their level. Skill level.
Leafs are certainly playing with greater urgency than Montreal now.
Rush. Toronto. Left side. Pass to the opposite side. Kessel. Fires. In. Great, high wrist shot over Halak’s right shoulder as he slides right to left.
Toronto 2, Montreal 1
Montreal is in huge trouble.
Martin effects a perplexed concern.
Whistle goes soon after the faceoff. Call against Toronto. Accidental high stick. And it’s a four-minute call. What luck of the Irish for Montreal. Jamie Lundmark.
Canadiens win the faceoff. Plekanec. Pouliot slides over to play it to the point. Shot results. And then a clear.
Montreal starts the rush with Pouliot carrying slowly along the left. Long strides, though.
Canadiens set up. Plekanec accepts a puck at the side of the net. Waits. Back to the point. To the corner. Slot pass from AK. No sticks reply. And Gustavsson traps it before Markov, in the crease suddenly, can get a stick on it.
Canadiens win the subsequent faceoff. Five players bump on the boards. Leafs get the puck. They clear it. One man chases for Toronto. And the horn goes.
Not an impressive end of period.
Brunet says that a bit more intensity and so forth and the Canadiens can succeed in the third. They are only behind by one goal. It’s a generous sentiment from the former number thirty-two.
Leafs led 10-9 on shots.
Second Intermission
Toronto 2, Montreal 1
Joel Bouchard discusses Phil Kessel. His second-period goal was his 28th of the season.
Bouchard shows us a replay. Kessel is shown entering the Montreal zone. He falls. Puck goes the other way and then back where Kessel can pick it up and take it in. Bouchard says that he was able to do it because he stayed in motion. Bouchard agrees with Crete that Kessel needs a linemate of the same calibre.
Now we are shown the Gionta goal. Bouchard says the play of the Leaf defencemen needs some improvement.
Demers adds that Kessel is, indeed, very talented. Discussion moves to Halak’s good play this evening and this season. Demers forgives Halak the Kessel goal. Bouchard supports by adding that the type of goal Kessel scored, shooting while moving in the opposite direction is very difficult to effect and, as well, to stop.
Reminds me of Magic Johnson breaking the rules of shooting when he hit baskets floating leftward in the air but shooting right. Great precision, concentration and hand-eye coordination afford the great scorers chances that others can only imagine.
Third Period
Toronto 2, Montreal 1
Tragically Hip blares on the PA system and I recall that being in the ACC is like visiting a seventeenth avenue Calgary bar circa 1995. Oh! Here they all are.
Canadiens win the faceoff. (The Hip aren’t actually very representative of Melrose Bar but you get my point).
Gionta line starts. Plekanec is on with him. Gomez, too. Martin wants a goal. Still about two minutes left in the penalty.
Houde says there is nobody to go and dig out the pucks. Three quick clears by Toronto prompt the observation. We hear some booing. Guess who.
Second wave creates a brief possession and shot. And les freres Kostitsyn are on together for the first time in a while. Metropolit centres them.
But the Leafs are up to it and they generate a shot and a freeze.
Brunet says Toronto has players, young guys, with something to prove for next year.
Markov starts the team out from behind the net.
Penalty ends. Crowd gives little reaction. Are there any Leaf fans present? Or what.
Great kill by the Leafs but the reaction is a road reaction and Montreal is the emotional surcharge beneficiary.
Leafs seem to relax on puck pursuit. Hamrlik advances past the hash. He controls on the boards for four seconds. Forth and then back. Then he loses the puck; shot it away himself. Wrong direction. Brunet chuckles and says it hasn’t been the best of nights for big Roman.
Stoppage about ten seconds later.
We see a Schenn check on Moore. Brunet says that Schenn lacks the speed to launch attacks and Houde adds that in the area of robust play, Schenn is fine.
Stoppage again.
Leafs win the faceoff and Kaberle retrieves.
Brunet says that the Leafs are playing without pressure. He expresses intrigue regarding how this new Leaf alignment will perform in pressure situations in the future.
Just over five minutes elapsed.
Lapierre line is on. Circling. Back for Gorges. Leafs retrieve the dump-in.
They can’t create a possession.
Crowd gives their loudest non-goal reaction as Lapierre is dumped by a Leaf.
And another hit on Lapierre generates a similar reaction. I forgot. Leaf fans, the loud majority (or minority?) prefer the other columns on the stat sheet.
Penalty minute burgers to Stanley Cup steaks. Well someone has to. There’s only one Cup per year.
Stoppage.
I’ve noticed that the English Canadian media is providing less and less examples of Ovie in a positive light. This is how it works. This is how it turns.
The courage of despotism; don’t you date mah daughter.
We resume with Gionta’s line taking a turn.
Long shot is stopped by Halak.
Canadiens respond with an even-man rush and a shot wide to Gustavsson’s right. Lines change. Brunet says that the change is slow.
Whistle.
Faceoff is won by Montreal. Pyatt is on. Canadiens are increasing the pace. Took a while, too long really, for this to happen. Leafs aren’t intimidated and are now comfortable in their perch. Grabovski carries it in over the blue line and is muscled off the puck. But a good effort from the promising, speedy Belarusian.
Now that Mike Komisarek and his long memory are no longer on the Montreal blue line, the ire towards Grabovski is almost non-existent. Grabovski hasn’t tangled with the brothers K, either. Not at any time this season.
Chant starts. Go Leafs go. It’s in response to a light Go Habs Go chant and it ends once its purpose has been served and the arena returns to warehouse echoes and peering rats on the periphery.
Moore attempts to start a fire in the building but his one-on-two board efforts aren’t supported by linemates and soon the puck goes out of play on an O’Byrne shot that deflects high.
Forty-two percent of RDS respondents believe that Montreal will move past Buffalo and Ottawa to finish in third place in the East. Are they watching this effort? Ye gads.
Plekanec takes the faceoff to Gustavsson’s left. Loses it to Bozak.
Puck is pushed out by Kessel. Plekanec retrieves. To Markov behind the net.
Brothers K are on together. Good idea. And a good response as they drive down the right together. Drop pass fails but both are skating with interest. In the past the two had been electric tong together but the last time I saw the two paired, I was unimpressed.
Another Leaf penalty. Montreal is zero of five tonight.
Hooking. Legit call. Fredrik Sjostrom. It’s called tripping. Wilson is shown expressing a brief emotional outburst. And he returns to his stoic self.
Canadiens control.
Spacek and Markov. Plekanec, Pouliot and Andrei K are the first wave.
Two shots from the slot. Houde gets tenor.
Puck stays in.
Same wave.
Pouliot gives it away. Beauchemin clears the intercepted pass.
Second wave is Gomez, Metropolit and Gionta. No excuses.
Long shot. Deflected. In.
Montreal 2, Toronto 2
Brunet says that this was another perfect example of the chemistry between Gomez and Gionta.
It’s ugly but. But what. What a terrible, disrespectful effort from Montreal tonight. Anybody can be motivated against a quality opponent. Champions prepare with the same emotional investiture for opponents of other stripes.
Just over five minutes left in the game.
Phaneuf is skating it up and then gives a short pass to a forward. Canadiens are soon back in.
Pyatt is under the end line.
Andrei K is not giving enough. Brunet says that the panic is now here for the Leafs.
He cites the recent icing.
Ron Wilson calls a timeout.
Brunet is right. There were other examples in the past two shifts since the Montreal deflection.
Metropolit is working in the corner. Supporting his linemate. Picks it up. To the point. Long shot. Dangerous.
Canadiens retain. They are ahead of the Leafs. Jump and buggy.
Leafs clear it in desperation. It works. Canadiens have to regroup and enter. Pouliot line jumps on.
Gill keeps a puck in. Fine work.
Canadiens are on. Very late. But on.
Gomez is working in the neutral zone.
I start hoping for Saku to jump on and save our eggs.
But the Canadiens are invested now.
Leafs are harried and just as invested.
Shot from the blue. Problem for Halak. But it’s stopped.
Pace is getting ragged.
Pyatt keeps it in for Montreal. To the hash. To the slot. Right on Grabovski’s stick.
Canadiens re-enter. Plekanec sends a weak backhand at Gustavsson.
Just under a minute.
Leaf crowd has also been a disappointment tonight. Where is the emotion?
Gomez comes in. To Pouliot who is spinning in the high slot and can’t receive it. Leafs ice it.
Twenty-four seconds. Good situation for Jacques Martin says Houde.
Leafs can’t change. Bozak takes it against Plekanec. Bozak wins the key faceoff.
Leafs get it out. Canadiens can’t re-enter before the horn.
Leafs outshot Montreal 7-6 for a 30-25 game total.
Overtime
Toronto 2, Montreal 2
And, for the record, Toronto is in fifteenth place in the East. Nothing to lose. And that makes them a dangerous opponent.
Gomez and Gionta are the first pairing.
Hamrlik corrects a passing error on the blue line and prevents a two on one to none.
Canadiens control the first shift.
Sergei is on with Plekanec. I thought it might be with his brother. Sergei gets a shot high and wide.
Kessel skates down in response and his shot is stopped from a bad angle.
Pouliot takes it on the right.
To the corner for Moore. Gorges has snuck up to the crease. Pass can’t be generated.
Beauchemin carries it in for Toronto. Shot goes high. Phaneuf is on with Beauchemin on the blue.
It’s slow-motion end-to-end.
Gionta beats Gustavsson but misses the net.
Plekanec generates a rush. O’Byrne’s resulting shot from the blue ain’t a winner.
Now Moore is in on his backhand. Wide.
Beauchemin advances on the right. Puck is taken from him. But the Leafs are able to produce a long shot from the blue line.
Leafs keep it in. Fifty seconds. Pouliot gets the puck and tries a pass for Gionta. Intercepted. Pouliot was gassed and at the end of his shift.
Grabovski captures the crowd’s imagination with a one-on-two entry but his shot misses the net entirely.
Leafs retain. Shot now from the hash. Houde’s voice rises again. Halak turns it away.
Horn goes. We are going to the shootout.
I get a sudden brain image of former Hab Michael Ryder scoring in the ACC. And it’s gone.
Shootout
We see some shootout stats for both teams. Sample sizes are too small even at this point of the season.
Giguere watches himself on the screen. Yawl-yawl-yawl; chewin’ his gum. Cap on. Gustavsson has a helluva nice-looking mask.
First shot is taken by … Kessel.
Kulemin and Mitchell will follow says Houde. He mentions the Montreal shooters, as well.
Kessel circles. Replaces his mouthguard. Halak scrapes the ice.
And here they go.
Kessel beats Halak. Deke. But the puck hits the crossbar.
Andrei Kostitsyn’s turn.
Deke. Scores. Booing motivates him. Didn’t know that. His face told it all. Before and after.
Montreal 1, Toronto 0.
Kulemin. Right-left deke. Scores. Nice. Very quick hands.
Toronto 1, Montreal 1
Gomez for Montreal now. Circles slowly. Advances. Deke. Too slow. Gustavsson got across anyway.
Mitchell third. Gorgeous fake and shot. Horn goes. White light.
Toronto 2, Montreal 1
Gionta.
Waits. Shoots. High. Stopped.
Leafs win. And they deserve it.
Toronto 3
Montreal 2 (SO)
HDS Stars: Phil Kessel, Tyler Bozak, Jaroslav Halak
RDS Stars: Tyler Bozak, Brian Gionta, Nikolai Kulemin
| 25-34-12 |
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