MTL@TOR: Game Recap

TORONTO - The Canadiens suffered their third consecutive loss on Saturday night, falling 3-2 to the Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena.

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It was the final regular-season meeting between Montreal and Toronto.

Forward Alex Belzile took part in the first regular season game of his NHL career. The Saint-Eloi, QC native started the contest alongside Jake Evans and Artturi Lehkonen.

Belzile, 29, played six postseason games for the Canadiens last summer in the Toronto bubble.
For his part, goaltender Jake Allen made his 26th start of the year. It was also his sixth appearance of the season against the Maple Leafs.

The Canadiens opened the scoring at the 3:34 mark of the first period.
Defenseman Brett Kulak's point shot managed to evade some serious traffic in front of goaltender Jack Campbell and find the back of the net.

It was Kulak's second goal of the season. He snapped a seven-game goal drought on the play.
Belzile assisted on the tally, collecting his first career point in the regular season.
Dominique Ducharme's contingent led 1-0 after 20 minutes. They were also ahead 7-4 in shots.
Nick Suzuki put the Canadiens up 2-0 just 31 seconds into the middle frame.
The 21-year-old centreman capitalized on a 2-on-1 and beat Campbell with a low wrist shot.

It was his 13th goal of the season, matching his total from last year.
Right-winger Tyler Toffoli collected an assist on the play to extend his point streak to six games.
Defenseman Jeff Petry was credited with the secondary helper, becoming the first Habs player this season to amass 30 assists.
The Maple Leafs responded at the 5:02 mark of the period on a goal by Pierre Engvall.
The 24-year-old left-winger surprised Allen with a shot along the ice that beat him between the legs.

It was Engvall's sixth goal of the campaign. He has goals in three consecutive games.
Right-winger William Nylander tied things up 2-2 with 6:24 left in the stanza.
The 25-year-old Swede buried a rebound behind Allen for his 17th goal of the season.

Nylander extended his point streak to seven games on the sequence.
John Tavares and Jake Muzzin assisted on the goal.
Toronto took the lead for the first time in the game with 3:27 remaining in the frame.
Auston Matthews won an offensive zone faceoff that allowed Mitch Marner to blast a shot upstairs on Allen.

Marner reached the 20-goal plateau for the third time in his career, while Matthews extended his point streak to six games.
The Maple Leafs led 3-2 after 40 minutes, while Montreal was ahead 17-14 in shots.
That's the way things ended.
Allen finished the game with 23 saves.
The Canadiens will close out the regular season with two home games against the Edmonton Oilers.
Monday night's encounter gets underway at 7:00 p.m. ET at the Bell Centre.