The Toronto Maple Leafs have a chance to make up for one of the few blemishes from the successful road trip they just concluded when they host the Montreal Canadiens Saturday night.
The Maple Leafs are on a three-game winning streak after defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 5-1 on Thursday to complete a 4-2-0 trip despite losing goaltender Joseph Woll after the second period with a lower-body injury.
“From the start of the trip to now, the confidence with the puck is in a way better spot,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said. “We talked about puck possession, just making some more plays, wanting the puck a little bit more, working for each other. I think they’ve done a good job of grabbing that.”
The trip did not start well. The Maple Leafs lost 5-2 to the Canadiens Nov. 22 in the first game.
Montreal is also 4-2-0 in its last six starting with that game after a 3-2 home shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday.
The Maple Leafs defeated Montreal 5-2 on Oct. 8 in the season opener.
Woll stopped 23 shots through two periods before Dennis Hildeby saved all nine shots he faced in the third period. The extent of Woll’s injury was not immediately known.
“I really like the way (Hildeby) came in and handled it,” Berube said. “He does a great job. It’s not easy to come in there in that situation.”
“It was challenging coming in like that,” Hildeby said. “But guys help out a lot, too. Some great blocked shots.”
The Maple Leafs are already without Anthony Stolarz, who started the season as the No. 1 goaltender and is out with an upper-body injury.
Woll was not with the team early in the season to deal with a personal issue. He has played well since his return,
Meanwhile, the rest of the team is clicking after a slow start to the season.
“All four lines are just getting it done,” said Auston Matthews, who scored one goal Thursday. “Everybody is competing. It doesn’t matter who is scoring. Everybody is chipping in, doing the little things. I think that’s the biggest takeaway from this trip.”
The Canadiens should be wary of Toronto’s first shot on goal of the game. It tends to go in.
Bobby McMann scored 53 seconds into the first period on Thursday with Toronto’s first shot. The Maple Leafs are the second team since the 2009-10 season to score on their first shot on goal in four consecutive games following the Tampa Bay Lightning Nov. 20-26, 2021.
Montreal rebounded from two bad losses – 7-2 to the Colorado Avalanche on Nov. 29 and 5-2 to the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday –prior to Wednesday’s victory.
“It was a momentum-filled game, and I think (Tuesday), we didn’t really handle that well,” Montreal forward Jake Evans said. “And tonight was one of our most complete 60-minute games, or 65-(plus), I guess, minute game. Every line contributed and that’s a good team over there that we fought to the very end.”
“We’ve had a lot of bad days over the last couple of weeks,” said goaltender Jakub Dobes, who made 30 saves and foiled all three shootout attempts. “Every good and positive day just helps.”
Cole Caufield scored the only goal of the shootout. He also had an assist to extend his points streak to nine games (two goals, nine assists).
Nick Suzuki’s assist gave him a seven-game points streak (four goals, six assists).
