He's 10-0-0!!

 Game 40: Habs vs. Leafs

Simon B

The situation heading into this game is very different than what I thought it would be 2 months ago. The Habs and the Leafs both started off their seasons very strongly and these two teams were looking like the best in the division. Montreal did fall off however and are now in the last playoff spot sitting in fourth. But that may not be so bad for hockey fans around the country because if the standing stays as they are, the Leafs and Canadiens will match up in a first-round playoff series. Just thinking of that gets me excited. But for now, let's focus on the game at hand.

There are a few notable lineup changes in this game on both sides. The biggest being that Habs goalie Carey Price didn't make the trip to Toronto due to injury so backup Jake Allen got the start in the crease. Montreal's Brendan Gallagher was also out with a broken thumb. On Toronto's side of the equation, William Nylander was ruled out hours before game time with some soreness (they didn't say what was sore) so Ilya Mikheyev was moved into Nylander's usual spot on the Tavares line with Galchenyuck and Alex Barabanov replaced Mikheyev on the third line. Jack Campbell was between the pipes for the Leafs.

The Game

The first period started with a lot going on. The Matthews line was out for the faceoff and they took possession in Montreal's end. Auston Matthews went around the back of the net and looked for options in front. He didn't really have any so he took it in front of himself and fired it through Allen's pads to give the Leafs the 1-0 lead after only 54 seconds of play. Toronto really found a groove in the minutes that followed. They were dominating all aspects of the game and I was really confident that this team was all geared up for a good game. I spoke was too soon.

Montreal was in the Leaf's end and was looking pretty dangerous and the puck was thrown on the net and Corey Perry was there to smack home the rebound to tie the game at one.

After the Perry goal, the game evened out a lot. Shots were pretty close (although still in the Leafs' favor) and the goalies really settled into the game after allowing the first shot of the game by both teams to go in. Toronto had a 5 on 3 opportunity but as usual as of late, the power play struggled to get any momentum and they didn't capitalize. Overall it was a hard-fought period by both teams but the frame would end 1-1.

There was weak pace to the game at the beginning of the second period and that benefited the Habs a lot. They were the better team and started the period with a shot advantage of 8-0. It was hard to watch because the Leafs were just getting stopped at every opportunity for the first 10 minutes of the frame. But a penalty changed who would have more puck luck for the rest of the second. Auston Matthews took an uncharacteristic roughing penalty on Corey Perry and the Leafs had to kill a two-minute minor. 

They did and in dominating fashion too. That seemed to get some life into the Leaf's bench and they dominated play for the remaining 8 minutes of the period. The only issue was, they didn't score. Jake Allen made some important saves on fast breaks and dominating set up plays by the Leafs to keep the game tied going into the last period of regulation.

In the second, Montreal was easily the better team. But in the third, Toronto absolutely dominated. It started off with a bang. Toronto was pressing in the Habs zone and a pass in the slot deflected right to TJ Brodie who fired it in for his first goal as a Leaf. In my opinion, Brodie deserved a goal more than anyone last night, he's such an important player for the Leafs, and to see him finally get one probably made every single Leafs fan watching smile. I think a TJ Brodie appreciation post is in order so I can go more into depth on how he is such a key member of this lineup.

Even after the Brodie goal, the Leafs just smothered the Habs taking away all the time and space allowing nothing to go the Canadiens' way. A beauty of a play saw Marner thread a pass to a streaking Matthews who purposely shot it off Allen's pads to create a chance on the rebound. Zach Hyman crashed the net, picked up the rebound, and buried it to make it 3-1, and once again I was feeling comfortable with the lead that Toronto had. 

But with about three minutes to go Montreal's head coach Dominic Ducharme pulled his goalie for the extra attacker and that's when I got all nervous again. The Habs were pressing really hard on the Leafs and you could just feel a goal coming. And it did, courtesy of Corey Perry once again. He tapped in a rebound from a Tyler Toffoli shot from the slot and just like that it was a one-goal game with just over a minute to go. A few big saves by Campbell and some blacked shots by Hyman and Marner kept the score where it was and the Leafs took the 3-2 regulation win.

The Wrap 

I didn't mention this because I wanted to use the end of this post to write about Jack Campbell breaking the franchise record for consecutive wins as a goalie. Campbell is 10-0-0 this year and believe it or not, his last loss came BEFORE the pandemic back on March 7th, 2020 (a 2-1 loss to Anaheim). He's the starter, there's no question about it. The way he looks in the net is such a claiming thing really. He just makes save after save without ever getting rattled if one happens to go in. He's a really great team player too and the rest of the group rave about what a nice person he is. I'm so happy he's a Leaf.

We'll see if he gets the start on Saturday night as the Leafs host the Sens on Hockey Night in Canada.