Canadiens score late to take thrilling season opener over Maple Leafs

We waited all summer for an opening night clash between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens, and it certainly lived up to the hype.

Josh Anderson scored the game-winning goal with 19 seconds remaining as the Canadiens emerged with a 4-3 victory over the Maple Leafs in a thrilling divisional clash.

Michael Bunting opened the scoring, while Denis Malgin and William Nylander scored for the Maple Leafs. Cole Caufield scored two goals for the Canadiens, Sean Monahan added another tally, while Anderson’s last-minute snipe held up as the winner.

Here are three takeaways from another Maple Leafs-Canadiens classic.

The Matt Murray experiment fails its first test

The glaring flaw of Toronto’s roster, at least on paper, lies between the pipes. Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas is likely betting his entire future on the idea that the tandem of Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov will be enough to keep the team afloat, while the high-octane forwards and improving defensive corps propel the club into Stanley Cup contention. This may be somewhat reductionist, but Toronto’s prospectus may rely on Murray.

How did Murray fare in the opener? It was a mixed bag, but you’d like your goaltender to be able to close out tight games, and he failed at this task — he wasn’t all to blame, as the pairing of Jake Muzzin and Justin Holl receive a failing grade for their performances tonight, but his third-period performance left an awful impression upon the Maple Leafs faithful.

It wasn’t all bad for Murray, who was stellar throughout a first period where his teammates controlled possession at 5-on-5. Murray made an outstanding stop on Cole Caufield (more on him below) in the first period, where it became evident that the Canadiens were trying to beat him through a series of cross-ice one-timers on his glove side. In the final minutes of the second period, Murray made a sprawling wraparound save to keep Kirby Dach off the scoresheet, as the score remained tied 2-2 entering the third period.

Murray, again, isn’t solely to blame here. Toronto’s defencemen insisted on playing a ridiculously high line throughout the contest, putting themselves out of position, on the calculated bet that it could suppress Montreal in its own end and wear them out through the possession battle. If you look at Sean Monahan’s goal, which gave Montreal a brief 3-2 lead, Jordan Harris’s point shot hits Jake Muzzin, but there’s ample time for Murray to recover before Monahan gets a stick on it.

It wasn’t good enough. Murray didn’t have to be spectacular in this game, but he had to be timely, and he didn’t deliver. It’s only one game, but it would be curious to see when Ilya Samsonov gets his first shot at the No. 1 gig, where Murray has a perilous hold on it.

Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki dominated in transition

There are marked differences between the ways Dominique Ducharme and Martin St. Louis have used their top six, but the commonality between both regimes is that Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki are being encouraged to dominate on the counterattack, even if that means sacrificing steady possession at 5-on-5. Caufield and Suzuki picked the Maple Leafs apart in transition, and narrowly missed a third goal towards the end of the first period.

At the end of the first frame, Suzuki sprung a cross-ice pass to Caufield on a 2-on-1 rush, but the diminutive winger just missed the net. It must’ve been a point of emphasis in the locker room, because Suzuki ran the exact same play to start the second period, and this time Caufield delivered, as Auston Matthews and Morgan Rielly were out of gas and didn’t track back effectively.

When you’re the less talented team, capitalizing on mistakes is of paramount importance. Michael Bunting — who was far and away the best player on the ice during the first period — tapped the puck back errantly to Matthews, who dove and missed, and Caufield was off to the races. Caufield has been lauded for his laser release before he played a single NHL game and though some observers argued about whether Murray should’ve made a better effort here, it was expertly placed. Morgan Rielly also failed to close the gap here and giving Caufield a clean shooting lane is a recipe for disaster.

Suzuki made a point of sending saucer passes laterally to great effect throughout the contest. It’s a weapon that caught the eye several times and it kept Toronto’s defence completely off-balance, especially during odd-man rushes. Montreal’s new captain endeared himself well, and he is the correct choice to emerge as the leader of a talented group that will face growing pains. Tonight is a seismic win for Suzuki, Caufield, and overtime hero Josh Anderson.

Montreal’s dynamic duo aren't expected to win a ton of chances at 5-on-5, but if Suzuki and Caufield get a flying start and turn up the ice, it’s worth standing up in your seat to witness the impending result.

Jake Muzzin, Justin Holl and Pierre Engvall fell apart at the end

Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe labeled the loss as unacceptable and for good reason. Toronto out-chanced, out-shot and out-possessed Montreal throughout the contest and yet it didn’t matter in the end. We’re discussing a team sport but alongside Matt Murray, who we profiled at the top, there are four additional culprits to blame here.

It’s only one game, but the Jake Muzzin-Justin Holl pairing looks untenable going forward. Muzzin was on the ice for a team-worst 25 chances against, Holl was on the ice for 24, but we don’t need a deep dive into the statistical profile to analyze their games tonight. From the eye test and situational analysis, Muzzin and Holl were liabilities for the Maple Leafs, playing an unnecessarily high line throughout the contest that rarely translated into offence.

Muzzin and Holl’s performances were poor and they would’ve been ultimately forgettable, were it not for their mistakes during the third period. Their lack of foot speed was troubling, but the lack of situational awareness is the primary reason for alarm. Jordan Harris’ point shot that led to the third goal was moving glacially and when it hits Muzzin, he falls down — trying to box out the gigantic Josh Anderson is a challenge, to be sure, but flailing to the ground also served as a distraction to Murray, who is trying to track the puck while his field of vision gets muddled. Morgan Rielly is late to react, while Pierre Engvall, who was on the ice ostensibly because of his two-way game, is playing so high up the ice that you have to figure he was anticipating a blocked shot and a subsequent potential breakaway. That’s less than ideal in a tie game.

During the final minute of the contest, Suzuki sends a saucer pass, which had worked to great effect throughout the contest, over to Josh Anderson who narrowly misses the puck. As the puck remains in Toronto’s defensive zone, Holl opts to go for a victory lap, circling the net and doesn’t attach himself to a shooting lane, or a single Canadiens forward — he couldn’t have played this sequence any worse. The puck gets back to Montreal’s promising rookie Kaiden Guhle and his shot is blocked.

However, Muzzin tosses the puck up the ice carelessly, and then just stands there as if stuck in quicksand, whereas Holl, who has finally re-entered the play, stands off to the side of the crease, then falls down, in an apparent but ineffective attempt to block the shot. It was an inexcusable sequence and the Maple Leafs can’t wait for Timothy Liljegren to return.

I included Engvall among the culprits as well, as he was on the ice for both goals and didn’t show any interest in tracking back. There are some Maple Leafs fans questioning why he was on the ice to begin with, and since it’s early, we wonder if Keefe changes up his final minute distribution and line patterns after a dreadful showing in the opener.

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