Montembeault makes 48 saves, Canadiens blank Maple Leafs in season opener

MONTREAL -- Sam Montembeault stopped all 48 shots he faced for the Montreal Canadiens in a 1-0 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the season opener for each team at Bell Centre on Wednesday.

“Those are the kind of situations you want to be in,” Montembeault said. “Last year, it happened a few times, we were leading by a goal and then we lost it and they came back. So this year I think we did a good job. We didn’t force anything in the third (period), we just played the game that was in front of us, and I think the guys did a great job.”

Cole Caufield scored a power-play goal for Montreal, which finished eighth in the Atlantic Division last season with 76 points, 26 behind the third-place Maple Leafs. Montembeault’s 48 saves set an NHL record for the most in a season-opening shutout.

“(Montembeault) was solid everywhere, really calm,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said. “It seemed like everything was sticking to him.”

Anthony Stolarz made 26 saves in his debut for Toronto after signing a two-year, $5 million contract as a free agent on July 3.

“The guys did a really good job in front of me, to let me see the first shot,” Stolarz said. “I moved well, in control.”

It was Craig Berube’s first game as coach of the Maple Leafs.

“When you almost get 50 shots on net and you don’t get a goal, their goalie played well,” Berube said. “But I was happy with our effort. The guys battled, worked, Stolarz was really good in net. A lot of good things but we’ve got to find a way to finish better.”

Caufield gave Montreal a 1-0 lead at 7:48 of the first period with a one-timer from below the left circle off a cross-ice pass from Juraj Slafkovsky. The goal came after the Canadiens won a face-off and controlled the puck in the offensive zone.

“Obviously that’s kind of a face-off play that we work at,” Caufield said. “When it’s there, it’s nice. Those are the plays that you’ve got to execute. I thought [Mike Matheson] kind of started it with a really good play there, and I just happened to finish a really good pass from ‘Slaf.’”

It was the first time Toronto failed to score in either a regular season or Stanley Cup Playoffs game since Nov. 20, 2021, a 2-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“We did more than enough to score more than one goal tonight,” Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews said. “That didn’t happen, and we’ve got to regroup.”

NOTES: Before Montembeault’s 48-save performance, Filip Gustavsson of the Minnesota Wild had a 41-save shutout in their opener against the Florida Panthers on Oct. 12, 2023, and Marc-Andre Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins had a 40-save shutout in their opener against the Philadelphia Flyers on Oct. 5, 2006. … Montembeault’s 48 saves were the second most by a Canadiens goalie in a shutout. Jacques Plante had a 52-save shutout against the Chicago Blackhawks on Nov. 13, 1955. … Including playoffs, the Maple Leafs 252-game streak without being shut out was the third-longest of its kind in NHL history. Their streak of 227 regular-season games without being shut out is the eighth-longest in League history.