Jumat, 21 Mei 2021

About Last Night: Byronic hero lifts Habs over Leafs 2-1 in game 1 - Montreal Gazette

Josh Anderson and Paul Byron scored for the Canadiens. John Tavares left the game following a frightening collision.

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The Montreal Canadiens won the opening game of their first-round playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 on Thursday night at Scotiabank Arena. The Habs now lead the best-of-seven series 1-0.

In his column, Brendan Kelly said the Habs needed to win the physical battles if they wanted a chance against the heavily favoured Leafs, and that’s exactly what happened: the Habs outhit their opponents 55-27. It also helped that a healthy Carey Price was back in nets and on his game, as he made 35 saves in a vintage performance.

The game was physical from the beginning, with the Habs getting 11 hits within the first five minutes. Josh Anderson, fresh from a scoring opportunity, nearly crushed Wayne Simmonds with a body check, although the Leaf veteran was able to avoid the impending hit. The physical play resulted in a frightening incident where Ben Chiarot hit Leafs captain John Tavares to the ice. As Tavares fell, his head hit Corey Perry’s knee. Tavares was unable to get up and medical staff from both teams went to provide assistance. Tavares left the game on a stretcher, and gave a parting thumbs up. After a long delay play resumed, and it was clear both teams remained stunned by the freak accident. Nick Foligno and Perry dropped the gloves on the ensuing faceoff, a move that was heavily criticized by Liveblog commenters given the unintentional nature of the earlier collision. With the Leafs still reeling, Eric Staal passed to a speeding Josh Anderson entering the zone, who split Toronto’s defence and roofed a wrister on goalie and playoff first-timer Jack Campbell. Tyler Toffoli took a penalty late in the period, but besides an Auston Matthews shot to the post, the Habs were able to hang on to their 1-0 lead heading into the second.

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The Habs finished their penalty kill to open the second period. Then it was the Leafs’ turn to get a penalty, with Justin Holl taking one for the rulebooks as the officials deemed he intentionally deflected a dump-in over the glass, giving him a delay of game minor. The Habs didn’t score on the ensuing power play, or any of their five opportunities on the night. After killing the Holl penalty, the Leafs tied it up 1-1 when Morgan Rielly’s point shot landed in front of William Nylander on the doorstep, who converted in the open net. Matthews then made himself public enemy number one among Habs fans, drawing a penalty by Ben Chiarot, then smiling as Chiarot tried to get Matthews to take a retaliatory call of his own. Like the Habs, the Leafs were blanked on the power play in game 1.

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Jake Evans left for the dressing room and returned before the second was out, but by the third period the team announced his night was done. The Leafs took another delay of game penalty, this time Mitch Marner flipping it over the glass with Tomas Tatar incoming. Then Nylander got the team’s third delay of game call, an unlikely feat. The power play ended with Marner and Matthews barreling down on Price, but the goalie bested the two star forwards on their give-and-go, making a stellar pad save to keep the game tied.

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With Tatar in the box for high-sticking, the Canadiens regained the lead. Paul Byron beat Rasmus Sandin in a footrace for the puck, and as the defenceman tripped Byron, Byron was able to continue stickhandling after falling before putting the puck up and over Campbell. The Habs led 2-1 and never relinquished the lead.

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It was a textbook road game for the Canadiens, who fired an important opening salvo in the series. The Tavares injury is what will likely remain on the minds of hockey fans entering game two Saturday, and rightfully so. Here’s hoping for good news for Tavares on that front. Meanwhile, the Habs Liveblog commenters were cautiously optimistic following the series opening victory. For one game, at least, the prognosticators, oddsmakers and pundits were proven wrong. Here’s what the commenters had to say:

4. “Yessssssss! Carey played great and the character came through ! Took home ice away with that win !” -Glen Sanderson
3. “LETS GO!!! ILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU BERGY IF WE LOSE THIS SERIES!!!!” -Golden Trash
2. “Maybe using a veteran lineup isn’t as crazy as it sounds. They led the way and they all benefited from the week off. A well rested team is a lot more exciting to watch, then a tired injury prone team.” -Ryan Katz
1. “I think we need to chill a bit. Great start and win but it’s only one game. Let’s not get too cocky. We leave that for Leafs fans.” -Sami Mazloum

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2021-05-21 11:03:19Z
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