MTL@TOR: Game Recap

TORONTO - The Canadiens were edged 3-2 by the Maple Leafs on Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena.

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In the absence of Brendan Gallagher, youngster Jesperi Kotkaniemi played his first game on the wing alongside Phillip Danault and Tomas Tatar.
Interim head coach Dominique Ducharme spent some quality time with the three forwards before the fifth matchup of the season between the two teams.

For his part, goaltender Jake Allen was back between the pipes since Carey Price was sidelined with a lower-body injury.

It was his 13th start of the year and his first outing of the campaign against Toronto.
Meanwhile, right-winger Josh Anderson suited up for his 300th career NHL game.
The Burlington, ON native played 267 games for the Columbus Blue Jackets before being acquired by Montreal.

The Canadiens didn't get off to the best start at Scotiabank Arena.
Sniper Auston Matthews opened the scoring just 54 seconds into the first period.
The Maple Leafs centreman beat Allen on a wraparound for his 28th goal of the season to make it 1-0 for the home side.

That extended Matthews' goal streak to three games.
The Habs replied just 1:21 later courtesy of Corey Perry.
The 35-year-old veteran took a feed from centreman Nick Suzuki and beat goaltender Jack Campbell five-hole to level the scoreline.

It was Perry's eighth goal of the season. For his part, Suzuki collected an assist in a third consecutive contest.
Defenseman Joel Edmundson also picked up a helper on the play.
That's the way things stood after 20 minutes.
Allen made 12 saves in the opening stanza, including this solid stop on Alex Galchenyuk.

No goals were scored in the second period.
Montreal dominated the action with a 17-4 shot advantage in the middle frame alone.
Toronto pulled ahead 2-1 just 2:32 into the third period.
Defenseman TJ Brodie collected a loose puck in the slot and beat Allen between the legs for his first goal of the season.

Allen made another highlight-reel stop early in stanza, frustrating the League's top goalscorer with a stellar pad stop.

The Maple Leafs, however, still managed to double their lead at the 9:39 mark of the period.
Left-winger Zach Hyman jumped on a rebound off a Matthews shot and beat Allen to put Toronto up 3-1.

It was Hyman's 13th goal of the season.
Matthews and Mitch Marner collected the assists on the play.
Perry cut the Maple Leafs' lead to a single goal with 2:15 left in regulation, banging home his second tally of the night.

It was his first multi-goal performance with Montreal.
That's as close as the Canadiens would get, however, as they fell 3-2.
Following the game, the Habs flew back to Montreal where they'll battle the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night at the Bell Centre.