Maple Leafs power past Canadiens for 3rd straight win

TORONTO -- The Toronto Maple Leafs scored two power-play goals in a 4-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.

It was the third straight game in which Toronto had scored at least two power-play goals. The Maple Leafs were 3-for-42 on the power play (7 percent) to start the season until going 8-for-15 in their past four games, bringing them to 11-for-53 (20.8 percent), which is 14th in the NHL.

“The results hadn’t been going well and at the end of the day, that’s what matters most but there were lots of things underneath that, that we saw good trends and good things that were going well,” Maple Leafs forward John Tavares said. “Just had to kind of stay with it, obviously it can get a little frustrating but it’s a long year. There are ebbs and flows, you just have to stay with it with the type of group we have and the success we’ve had over the years, now you’re starting to see it pay off.”

Mitch Marner had a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to eight games (three goals, 10 assists), William Nylander also had a goal and an assist, and Joseph Woll made 20 saves for the Maple Leafs (9-5-2), who have won three in a row and are 3-0-1 in their past four games.

“Very good,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “I thought we checked extremely well for two periods. The power play was good again. Clean pretty much with penalties and I thought we played a real smart game. I was really happy. Third period they made a little push but our goalie was really good for us.”

Brendan Gallagher scored, and Sam Montembeault made 23 saves for the Canadiens (4-9-2), who are 0-5-1 in their past six.

“We all know it's an honor to wear the logo we do get to wear, and the team we get to play for, and definitely stinks kind of going through this, but the only way through it is to get through it together,” Canadiens forward Kirby Dach said.

“I think everyone in here is trying their best to go out there and compete. I don't think there's anybody in this locker room in this league that wants to lose games and doesn't go out there to try.”

Conor Timmins put the Maple Leafs up 1-0 at 14:55 of the first period with his first goal of the season. He spun away from Josh Anderson at the blue line, skated to the right face-off dot and had his blocker-side shot deflect off Christian Dvorak in front of the net. It was his first goal since Dec. 23, 2023, ending a 31-game drought.

“I fanned on the puck and then instincts took over,” Timmins said. “Just tried to get the puck on net and it went in. It was great. I haven’t got one in a while so to see it go in was a great feeling.”

Nylander made it 2-0 at 5:39 of the second period when he cut around Lane Hutson in the slot and shot glove side on the power play. Morgan Rielly assisted on the goal for his 400th in the NHL.

Marner pushed it to 3-0 at 8:24 when he took a pass from David Kampf and shot from the top of the goal crease while short-handed with Montembeault out of position.

“I thought Dave was going to one-time it at first to be honest but as soon as I saw him cradle it and put his head up for me, I just tried to jump past my check and get to the net and he made a heck of a play to get it back to me,” Marner said.

The Canadiens cut it to 3-1 at 9:26 when Gallagher swatted a rebound out of the air at the top of the goal crease while on the power play.

“I thought we had a great first period, unlucky bounce, and then the second felt comfortable, and, you know, then we give up a short-handed goal,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said. “Then we had to climb back, I thought we had a good third period, but we just couldn’t score.”

Tavares scored Toronto’s third special teams goal to make it 4-1 at 12:15 on the power play when he put in his own rebound in the slot. It was the fifth straight Toronto power play with a goal.

“Every game is important but no doubt when you are playing teams in your division jockeying for positioning with how the playoff format is set up, [these games] are important so I think it was just the way the schedule was set up this week,” Tavares said. “Good week all around but we know we still have a lot of areas to get better in.”

NOTES: Maple Leafs forward Max Pacioretty fell awkwardly in the slot after taking a hit from Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson late in the first period and left the game because of a lower-body injury. “We’ll have to see in a day or so what's going on there with him,” Berube said. … The Maple Leafs were without captain Auston Matthews for a third straight game because of an upper-body injury. He skated Saturday for the first time since sustaining the injury. Berube said, “He’s going in the right direction. … He’s feeling better.” Toronto is 38-19-2 without Matthews since he entered the NHL in 2016-17.