Paul Byron scored on Montreal's first shot and Price ensured the victory as stared down a Murderers' Row of Leafs' shooters.
TORONTO — Carey Price wasn’t among the three stars introduced at the conclusion of the Canadiens-Maple Leafs game Saturday, but he should have been.
Price was the reason why the Canadiens escaped with a 6-5 shootout win over the Leafs.
Forget the five goals he surrendered in regulation time, most of which were the result of sloppy play from the guys in front. When the game was on the line — in the overtime and in the shootout — Price was spectacular.
On three occasions in overtime, Price was challenged on breakaways. There was a stop on Mitch Marner and then two saves against John Tavares. The first save on Tavares came as the Leafs captain exited the penalty box and Price was able to make a glove save. The second came with less than 10 seconds to play.
Canadiens’ Carey Price skates away from the net against the Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019, in Toronto.
“I think if he had another half-step, he might have been able to lift it more,” said Price, who stuck out his pad to make the save. “As it was, he got it up a bit.”
Then came the shootout. Paul Byron scored on Montreal’s first shot and Price ensured the victory as stared down a Murderers’ Row of Leafs’ shooters — Auston Matthews, Marner and Tavares.
It appeared the Leafs were on their way to a third consecutive win to start the season when they took a 4-1 lead on a power-play goal by William Nylander at 5:16 of the third period, but Jonathan Drouin scored 11 seconds later to launch the Montreal comeback.
“The turning point was that shift after they scored with (Max Domi) and Jo,” Brendan Gallagher said. “They scored right away and we didn’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves. We knew we could get one more, we could come back.”
Gallagher provided that one more when he scored at 6:29 and Jeff Petry tied the game on a rare penalty shot that was called after Kasperi Kapanen threw a broken stick at him.
“I’ve seen guys throw a broken stick at a puck, but it’s first time I saw a guy throw it at a player,” Petry said. “We knew the rule, but there was some confusion. At first, they said any player could take the shot, and then they said any player who was on the ice, and then they said it was me.
Canadiens’ Phillip Danault celebrates a goal against the Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019, in Toronto.
“It’s the first time I’ve taken a penalty shot,” said Petry, who beat Michael Hutchinson with a low shot on the glove side. “I shot a few times in shootouts when I was with Edmonton. I went out there and I knew I was going to shoot.”
“I wasn’t surprised that he scored because I’ve seen him shoot in practice,” Gallagher said.
“It wasn’t our best game,” Gallagher admitted. “Pricey had to make some big saves on their best players. We have some things to clean up. There were some things we liked, character-wise, but we have to be sharper. We had a lot of breakdowns and we had to rely on our goaltender a little too much. Obviously, he’s capable of doing that, but we don’t want to rely on him every night.
“This was a big win for us,” Gallagher said. “I remember coming in here (last season) and they came back after we had a 3-0 lead, so it was good to get them back.”
The Canadiens flew home after the game, but they’ll return to this area on Wednesday when they complete their season-opening road foray with a game against the Buffalo Sabres. The Canadiens will play their home opener Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings.
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October 06, 2019 at 10:49AM
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