TORONTO — Mitch Marner had an outstanding performance with a goal and an assist, extending his impressive point streak to eight games, as the Toronto Maple Leafs secured a 4-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
William Nylander contributed significantly as well, adding a goal and an assist to help Toronto achieve their third win in a row. Other scorers included John Tavares and Conor Timmins, while Joseph Woll delivered a solid performance in net with 20 saves.
Morgan Rielly also made headlines by recording an assist, marking him as the third defenseman in Maple Leafs history to reach 400 career assists, joining notable names such as Borje Salming, who leads with 620, and Tomas Kaberle, who has 437.
On the Canadiens’ side, Brendan Gallagher found the net for his team. Sam Montembeault faced 23 shots but could not prevent Montreal from falling to a dismal 0-5-1 record over their last six games.
The Maple Leafs’ captain, Auston Matthews, missed his third consecutive game due to an upper-body injury. He participated in practice on Saturday and is expected to be available for the team’s upcoming game on Tuesday.
Takeaways from the game indicate that the Canadiens have been outscored 29-12 during their losing streak. Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs’ power play has shown a marked improvement, successfully converting twice, boosting their success rate to 8 for 14 since the previous weekend after a challenging start to the season where they were only 3 for 39.
A key moment in the game occurred during the second period when the Leafs were killing a penalty while leading 2-0. David Kampf seemed to be trapped off the rush but managed to pass the puck to Marner in front, leading to Marner scoring his fourth goal of the season.
A notable statistic from this match is that Toronto has now achieved nine consecutive regular-season home victories against Montreal, dating back to April 7, 2021. This streak ties the longest home win streak between the two teams. In contrast, the Canadiens managed to defeat the Leafs three times during the 2021 playoffs at Scotiabank Arena, overcoming a 3-1 series deficit in a thrilling seven-game showdown.
Looking ahead, the Canadiens will travel to Buffalo to face the Sabres in a Monday afternoon game. The Maple Leafs will be hosting the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.