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After a relatively quiet trade deadline on Friday, the Canadiens followed it up with a 3-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre on Saturday night.
Juraj Slafkovsky had two assists in the loss. His 43 points put him in fourth all-time for career points by a teenager on the Canadiens, behind only Mario Tremblay (66), Alex Galchenyuk (50) and Petr Svoboda (45).
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Jake Allen was traded to the New Jersey Devils on Friday, leaving the Habs with two goaltenders on the squad. Starter Sam Montembeault had 24 saves. If you’re here looking for whether Arber Xhekaj and Ryan Reaves dropped the gloves, prepare to be disappointed.
Mike Matheson scored a highlight reel goal to open scoring 38 seconds into the first period. Cole Caufield and Slafkovsky had the assists.
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Montreal’s early momentum might’ve been halted a little by an extended delay because of a pane of glass that needed repairs.
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After conceding an early goal, the Leafs returned the favour 39 seconds into the second period. Bobby McMann took advantage of an odd man rush to tie the game 1-1.
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Toronto took the lead before the second period was out. With 1:19 left, Max Domi burned his former club with a breakaway goal. Leafs lead 2-1 after 40 minutes.
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The Habs tied it up in the third period on the power play. Slafkovsky along the wall found Alex Newhook in the circle, and the latter walked in and roofed it on Ilya Samsonov for his 10th of the season. He’s the sixth Hab forward to hit double digits in goals this season, not counting the departed Sean Monahan.
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With less than seven minutes to play, the Leafs regained the lead. Montembeault kicked out the initial shot by Jake McCabe, but John Tavares was standing right in the crease, and the puck bounced off the Leaf captain and in to make it 3-2 for the away team.
Calle Jarnkrok got a late penalty for the Leafs, putting the Habs at 5-on-4 with time winding down, and eventually 6-on-4 with the goalie pulled, but despite their best efforts, they couldn’t find the equalizer.
Matheson and Slafkovsky had two points apiece, so they find themselves atop Hockey Stat Cards’ impact card, along with Matheson’s defence partner. Newhook has five points in his last six games.
