MONTREAL — It was just over a minute into the action when Josh Anderson put his head down, out-muscled John Tavares, took a step toward the inside of the ice and put a shot through Frederik Andersen to give the Montreal Canadiens a 1-0 lead over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night at the Bell Centre.
And it was in the 57th minute of play that Anderson’s teammate, Tomas Tatar, took a determined drive into Toronto’s zone, scrambled to keep the play alive, gained possession of the puck, passed it back to the point and then beat Morgan Rielly clean to the net to tap home his fourth goal of the season.
Everything that happened between those two plays — from Montreal’s side of it — was a mirage. Sure, the Canadiens built up a decisive edge in shots and expected goals at 5-on-5, they technically had the majority of the scoring chances and played the Leafs even on special teams, but as Canadiens forward Corey Perry put it, Andersen “saw most of the shots” in this 4-2 win for Toronto.
For accuracy’s sake, Andersen saw all of them — at 5-on-5, on the power play and on the penalty kill — and this was after the Canadiens spent two days practising their physical engagement following two lacklustre games against the Ottawa Senators last week.
The Canadiens just couldn’t find their way to the middle of the ice, they couldn’t find a way to Andersen’s crease and they just couldn’t get the edge they were looking for — no matter what both the ordinary and fancy stats said at the end of the game. And at 4-on-4 they were completely outclassed, with the Maple Leafs running a fire drill in their end for two goals.
On the first one, four of Montreal’s most reliable players — Phillip Danault, Brendan Gallagher, Shea Weber and Ben Chiarot — couldn’t execute a single play.
“Four times we had the puck and we gave it back to them in our end before they scored,” said Canadiens coach Claude Julien about the shot from Travis Dermott that beat goaltender Carey Price clean. “For sure that knocked some of the wind out of our sails, and it gave them energy.”
The Leafs took it into the third period, and seconds after Justin Holl scored his first goal of the year 1:50 in on what Julien referred to as a “duplicate” sequence, Ilya Mikheyev went unmarked by Brett Kulak and scored his first.
“They were costly errors,” said Julien. “Toronto’s a team that makes you pay when you make those types of errors.”
Let’s talk about the 11-2-1, North Division-leading Maple Leafs for a second, because they were definitely opportunistic on this night, but they also had a different complexion about them than we’ve become accustomed to over the last few seasons.
They’re usually a high-flying, risk-it-for-goals group, one not afraid to sacrifice a little defence for offence, but on this night the Leafs took Montreal’s best punch early and remained patient instead of forcing the issue. They conceded the outside shots and clamped down the middle of the ice, they cleared rebounds in front of Andersen and bodies away from his crease and they let the game come to them instead of snatching it by the throat.
At one point, shortly after taking a two-goal lead, Toronto’s top line, featuring two of the most prolific point-producers of a generation — Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner — peeled out of their forecheck and joined the rest of their teammates in an 0-5 trap in the neutral zone.
They respected the Canadiens, who came into the game with an 8-2-2 record and as the NHL’s highest-scoring team. As Matthews put it afterwards, “That’s a good team over there.”
He and his teammates did everything they could to make the Canadiens look less than good. One of the main ways they did it was by not feeding them in transition (where Montreal excelled last time these two teams met — in Toronto on opening night), and they held their ground in all three zones.
“They played a solid defensive game,” said Perry. “You’ve got to give credit when they play well.”
Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe definitely liked what he saw.
“Defensively today, we just didn’t give them much at all,” he said. “In fact, I had this as the lowest number of scoring chances we gave up in a game all season.”
It looked like the least amount of legitimate scoring chances the Canadiens generated in their 13 games to date, and it wasn’t solely because of how the Maple Leafs played them.
“I think we can be better at creating our turnovers and playing that game down low and getting to the front of the net and crashing the net,” said Perry. “Every (Canadiens) goal…you see where they were scored tonight, in that five-, 10-foot area in the crease. You have to go there.”
On the other side of the ice, Dermott’s shot beat Price from 35 feet out. And Holl’s was a missile from just inside the blue line. But Price’s view was unobstructed on both goals.
The 33-year-old made three stops on Matthews, three on Tavares, two on Marner and two on William Nylander. He made some really strong ones on a couple of tip plays, and he had no chance on Mikheyev’s and wasn’t even in the net for Zach Hyman’s goal with 1:04 remaining.
But the two Price couldn’t block from Dermott and Holl proved costly.
Still, the Canadiens couldn’t make up for it with the type of direct play we’ve seen them build their early season reputation on.
Joel Armia came back after seven games out with a concussion, and he played well. Perry, who had replaced Armia in his absence, shifted down to the fourth line and bumped Canadiens assistant captain Paul Byron out of the lineup.
It was understandable — Byron is without a goal so far — but perhaps they could’ve used the speedy winger in this one. He plays hard north-south hockey, and very much in the image of this Canadiens team when they’re executing the way they want to.
The Canadiens didn’t have it, the Maple Leafs did, and corrections are in order before the Edmonton Oilers take the ice at the Bell Centre on Thursday night.
The French league’s legal commission has ordered Paris Saint-Germain to pay Kylian Mbappé the 55 million euros ($61 million) in unpaid wages that he claims he’s entitled to, the league said Thursday.
The league confirmed the decision to The Associated Press without more details, a day after the France superstar rejected a mediation offer by the commission in his dispute with his former club.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former football star Reggie Bush was at his Encino home Tuesday night when three male suspects attempted to break in, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.
“Everyone is safe,” Bush said in a text message to the newspaper.
The Los Angeles Police Dept. told the Times that a resident of the house reported hearing a window break and broken glass was found outside. Police said nothing was stolen and that three male suspects dressed in black were seen leaving the scene.
Bush starred at Southern California and in the NFL. The former running back was reinstated as the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner this year. He forfeited it in 2010 after USC was hit with sanctions partly related to Bush’s dealings with two aspiring sports marketers.
VANCOUVER – A fresh face has been gracing the B.C. Lions‘ highlight reels in recent weeks.
Midway through his second CFL campaign, wide receiver Ayden Eberhardt has contributed touchdowns in two consecutive games.
The 26-year-old wide receiver from Loveland, Colo., was the lone B.C. player to reel in a passing major in his team’s 37-23 victory over the league-leading Montreal Alouettes last Friday. The week before, he notched his first CFL touchdown in the Lions’ win over the Ottawa Redblacks.
“It’s been awesome. It’s been really good,” Eberhardt said of his recent play. “At the end of the day, the biggest stat to me is if we win. But who doesn’t love scoring?”
He’ll look to add to the tally Friday when the Leos (7-6) host the Toronto Argonauts.
Eberhardt signed with B.C. as a free agent in January 2023 and spent much of last season on the practice squad before cementing a role on the roster this year.
The six-foot-two, 195-pound University of Wyoming product has earned more opportunities in his second season, said Lions’ head coach and co-general manager Rick Campbell.
“He’s a super hard worker and very smart. He understands, has high football IQ, as we call it,” Campbell said.
The fact that Eberhardt can play virtually every receiving position helps.
“He could literally go into a game and we could throw him into a spot and he’d know exactly what he’s doing,” the coach said. “That allows him to play fast and earn the quarterback’s trust. And you see him making plays.”
Eberhardt credited his teammates, coaches and the rest of the Lions’ staff with helping him prepare for any situation he might face. They’ve all spent time teaching him the ins and outs of the Canadian game, or go over the playbook and run routes after practice, he said.
“I’ve played every single position on our offence in a game in the last two years, which is kind of crazy. But I love playing football,” he said. “I want to play any position that the team needs me to play.”
While B.C.’s lineup is studded with stars like running back William Stanback — who has a CFL-high 938 rushing yards — and wide receiver Justin McInnis — who leads the league in both receiving yards (1,074) and receiving TDs (seven) — versatility has been a critical part of the team’s back-to-back wins.
“I think we’ve got a lot of talented guys who deserve to get the ball and make big plays when they have the ball in their hands. So it’s really my job to get them the ball as much as possible,” said quarterback Nathan Rourke.
“I think that makes it easy when you can lean on those guys and, really, we’re in a situation where anyone can have a big game. And I think that’s a good place to be.”
Even with a talented lineup, the Lions face a tough test against an eager Argos side.
Toronto lost its second straight game Saturday when it dropped a 41-27 decision to Ottawa.
“We’ll have our hands full,” Rourke said. “We’ll have to adjust on the fly to whatever their game plan is. And no doubt, they’ll be ready to go so we’ll have to be as well.”
The two sides have already met once this season when the Argos handed the Lions a 35-27 loss in Toronto back on June 9.
A win on Friday would vault B.C. to the top of the West Division standings, over the 7-6 Winnipeg Blue Bombers who are on a bye week.
Collecting that victory isn’t assured, though, even with Toronto coming in on a two-game skid, Campbell said.
“They’ve hit a little bit of a rut, but they’re a really good team,” he said. “They’re very athletic. And you can really see (quarterback Chad Kelly’s) got zip on the ball. When you see him in there, he can make all the throws. So we’re expecting their best shot.”
TORONTO ARGONAUTS (6-6) AT B.C. LIONS (7-6)
Friday, B.C. Place
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE: The Lions boast a 4-1 home record this season, including a 38-12 victory over the Redblacks at Royal Athletic Park in Victoria, B.C., on Aug. 31. The Argos have struggled outside of BMO Field and hold a 1-5 away record. Trips to the West Coast haven’t been easy for Toronto in recent years — since 2003, the club is 4-14 in road games against B.C.
CENTURION: B.C. defensive back Garry Peters is set to appear in his 100th consecutive game. The 32-year-old from Conyers, Ga., is a two-time CFL all-star who has amassed 381 defensive tackles, 19 special teams tackles and 16 interceptions over seven seasons. “Just being on the field with the guys every day, running around, talking trash back and forth, it keeps me young,” Peters said. “It makes me feel good, and my body doesn’t really feel it. I’ve been blessed to be able to play 100 straight.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
