We have already experienced more exciting evenings in the Queen City for a confrontation between the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
No, this preparatory match between the two great rivals, won 3-0 by the locals, will not go down in history. It must be said that on one side as on the other, we had left the big guns at home.
With the exception of William Nylander, fans inside Scotiabank Arena probably used the two teams’ roster sheets more often than usual to see who was skating in front of them.
Of course, most were curious to see Juraj Slafkovsky at work. For a second game in a row, the first choice of the last draft did not look bad. Without being exceptional, he applied himself in the small details.
Along with Joel Armia and Rem Pitlick, he formed the most consistent unit in the Montreal camp. In the second period, the Slovak’s work from the corner of the rink created a great scoring opportunity for Armia.
Stephens steps out of the shadows
If we often look at the youngsters who are in contention for a position with the big club, we forget that some support players try to command attention in the hope of receiving an injury call.
Mitchell Stephens has certainly scored points with management. He showed great aggression in opposing territory, causing a few turnovers. Martin St-Louis also used him often on the penalty kill, a situation in which he did well.
Acquired on the free agent market during the summer, the 25-year-old Ontarian has 72 games of experience on the Bettman circuit.
What we noticed…
Drouin withdraws
Jonathan Drouin was to take part in the meeting. Ill, the veteran stayed at home, declaring at the same time forfeited. Juraj Slafkovsky took his place in the formation.
A duo of Quebecers
Samuel Montembeault and Kevin Poulin shared the work in front of the Canadian net. Foiled by Nicholas Robertson, Montembeault yielded once on 15 shots. For his part, Poulin allowed two goals on 14 shots. Denis Malgin and Nicholas Abruzzese deceived his vigilance.
50 years ago, the golden goal
Before the game, the Maple Leafs organization paid tribute to the Canadian team which, 50 years ago, won the Series of the Century against the Soviets. A few former players were there, including Serge Savard, Yvan Cournoyer, Ken Dryden, Peter Mahovlich, Frank Mahovlich and Paul Henderson. At each of the commercial breaks, we also made sure to bring the spectators present to life a summary of each of the eight matches of this famous confrontation.
Mercer entrenched
At the end of the morning, the Canadian announced that he had put an end to the amateur tryout of goalkeeper Riley Mercer. The 18-year-old athlete will report to the Drummondville Voltigeurs, with whom he will begin his second season in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
SUMMARY
THIRD PERIOD
20:00 – Game over
16:34 – BUT TOR 3-0 Nicholas Abruzzese just has to redirect William Nylander’s pass, a second net on the power play for the Maple Leafs
16:11 – Emil Heineman hangs Morgan Rielly, minor punishment
14:29 – Juraj Slafkovsky redirects a shot positioned near the Leafs cage
13:30 – Calle Jarnkrok carries his stick too high in the place of Joel Armia
13:11 – Kevin Poulin makes quite a theft at the place of Bobby McMann forgotten at the mouth of the net
07:40 – Emil Heineman is more involved and has a good third period, a third shot for the speedman
06:57 – Joel Armia collects a loose puck near the net, but is unable to reduce the mark
06:51 – Jordan Harris goes on the attack and gets a golden chance in the slot, Erik Kallgren watches the grain
04:23 – Emil Heineman accepts the puck at the face-off circle and draws, Erik Kallgren intervenes
01:18 – Jake Evans skillfully feeds Emil Heineman who redirects the puck on the fly
00:00 – Start of period
SECOND PERIOD
20:00 – End of period
19:15 – BUT TOR 2-0 Denis Malgin completes the magnificent staging of Alex Kerfoot, the Leafs double their lead
18:27 – Arber Xhekaj obstructs, minor penalty
12:54 – Nick Robertson cross-checks Canadiens power play Lucas Condotta
12:48 – Kevin Poulin faces a first test against Nick Robertson, the Quebecer closes the door
11:10 – Goalkeeper Kevin Poulin enters the match and replaces Samuel Montembeault
07:08 – Veteran Kyle Clifford out the hook, minor penalty
06:23 – Filip Mesar performs a brilliant individual maneuver and draws; Matt Murray intervenes
05:36 – Joel Armia is patient, very patient with Matt Murray and unable to thread the needle when he was fine alone
04:46 – William Nylander and Calle Järnkrok stun the Montreal quintet, Samuel Monteambeault slows down the streak
01:11 – Samuel Montembeault stands in front of Alex Steeves, twice rather than once
00:00 – Start of period
FIRST PERIOD
20:00 – End of period.
19:20 – Justin Barron is forgotten in the face-off circle, but his shot misses the target
17:23 – Nick Robertson tries his luck again, this time Montembeault wins with the right leg
13:38 – Alex Steeves beats Samuel Montembeault, but not the post, the score remains 1-0 in favor of the Leafs
12:25 – Rem Pitlick goes to the dungeon, minor penalty for cross-checking
12:20 – Pontus Holmberg challenges Samuel Montembeault twice at close range, the goalkeeper says no!
09:13 – Quebecer Gabriel Bourque is kicked out for tripping
06:53 – BUT TOR 1-0 Mark Giordano serves a brilliant pass to Nick Robertson who deceives Samuel Montembeault’s vigilance with a powerful wrist shot
05:22 – Prospect Filip Mesar draws without warning, Matt Murray closes the door
04:38 – Speedy winger Emil Heineman outflanks the Toronto defensive squad and fires a sharp shot
00:55 – Juraj Slafkovsky, Rem Pitlick and Joel Armia control the puck well in the back of the territory and bottle the Leafs.
00:00 – Start of the game
Alignment
Attackers
Juraj Slafkovsky – Rem Pitlick – Joel Armia
Emil Heineman – Jake Evans – Jesse Ylonen
Filip Mesar – Owen Beck – Mitchell Stephens
Lucas Condotta – Nate Schnarr – Gabriel Bourque
Defenders
Corey Schueneman – Chris Wideman
Arber Xhekaj – Jordan Harris
Otto Leskinen – Justin Barron
Guardians
Samuel Montembeault
Kevin Poulin