Maple Leafs lose season opener on late goal by Canadiens’ Josh Anderson

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MONTREAL — There’s little arguing that the Montreal Canadiens hold the best pre-game ceremonies in the National Hockey League, usually affairs full of pomp and with just the right touch. 

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On Wednesday night at the Bell Centre, that was no different prior to the 2022-23 regular-season opener against the Maple Leafs. The loudest cheers came for injured goalie Carey Price, though the response for new captain Nick Suzuki was not far off. 

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Once the game started, the upstart Canadiens had something in store for the Maple Leafs, and that’s what was unexpected. 

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The Canadiens won 4-3, getting the deciding goal with 18.4 seconds remaining in the third period. After a Jake Muzzin giveaway, Josh Anderson snapped a shot past Matt Murray, sending the raucous crowd into a frenzy.

That capped a generally subpar effort by the Leafs. The Leafs, who play host to the Washington Capitals in the home opener on Thursday night at Scotiabank Arena, will have to better in order to register their first win of the season. 

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Montreal appeared to have gained a victory late in the game when Sean Monahan beat a lunging Murray at 17:30 of the third.

But the Leafs tied the game at 18:10 when William Nylander took a pass from John Tavares and chipped a shot past goalie Jake Allen.

Though the Canadiens iced a defence corps that was not long in experience — Kaiden Guhle and Arber Xhekaj were making their NHL debuts, and in total, the Montreal D-men had 932 NHL games on their collective resumes, compared to 1,024 for the Leafs’ Mark Giordano — Toronto didn’t take advantage.

Coach Sheldon Keefe talked in the morning about the importance of stressing the Canadiens’ defence and Allen, but that didn’t happen with any consistency. The Leafs never were really able to sustain pressure at any point in the game. The power play, meanwhile, was ineffective and went 0-for-4.

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Toronto has prided itself on improved structure, but then gave up too many odd-man rushes. 

The Leafs had several great chances to ensure they had a lead heading into the third period. Instead, the game was tied 2-2 as the clubs skated on to the ice for the final 20 minutes of regulation.

Alex Kerfoot failed to score on the first penalty shot of his NHL career, awarded at 17:20 of the second when he was hooked by Xhekaj.  

Earlier in the period, Auston Matthews and Denis Malgin hit the post, while Allen made a couple of fine glove saves on Nylander.

The Canadiens thought they might have taken a 3-2 lead seconds before the Kerfoot penalty shot, but a lengthy review showed that the puck did not cross the goal line on a wraparound attempt by Kirby Dach. Credit goes to Murray for getting over along the line to deny the Montreal forward. Not so much for Nicolas Aube-Kubel’s sloppy play that led to the chance.

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Cole Caufield, dangerous all night, tied the game at 33 seconds of the second period. After Morgan Rielly got caught down the ice, Caufield roofed a pass from Nick Suzuki on a two-on-one. 

Malgin translated his fine pre-season into his first goal with the Leafs, swatting a loose puck into the open net at 9:06 of the second. It was the first NHL goal by Malgin, who spent the past two seasons playing in Switzerland, since Jan. 18, 2020, when he was with the Florida Panthers. 

Caufield’s quick wrists ensured the Toronto lead was short-lived. At 15:56, Caufield fired a shot over Murray’s left shoulder after carrying the puck into the Leafs’ end. 

Before the game, Matthews was asked about Caufield.

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“I like his game a lot,” Matthews said. “A really smart player. He has a really great shot and he’s able to utilize it and find it in that quiet space to get it off. He’s a guy that we have to key on and make sure we’re aware of when he’s out there because he doesn’t need much for him to get his shots off.”

The Leafs’ desire to get in a rhythm was stalled early in the game, as Toronto took two minors within the first six minutes. Each was killed off without being too taxing, however, and Murray had to make only one tough save on those penalties, which came on a glove save on a Caufield one-timer.

A third Leafs penalty partly was nullified when Montreal’s Chris Wideman was whistled for interference.

Mitch Marner’s smarts with the puck led to the opening goal at 11:41 of the first. After escaping a check and making a couple of moves behind the Canadiens net, Marner fed Bunting, who found some open space and popped a quick shot past Allen. TJ Brodie also assisted, getting the puck to Marner deep in the Montreal end.

Murray finished the first period with eight saves. Allen stopped seven Leafs shots in the initial 20 minutes. 

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