Ten days before the start of the regular season, the Maple Leafs faced their Atlantic Division rival, the Montréal Canadiens, in a pair of split-squad exhibition games. Neither Leafs lineup managed to earn a victory.
The squad that travelled to the Bell Centre—made up mostly of players unlikely to be part of Toronto’s opening-day roster—fell 4–3 in overtime.
Rybinski Leads the Way in Montréal
The brightest spot for the Leafs Bell Centre group was Henrik Rybinski, who recorded a power-play goal and an assist. The 25-year-old winger has spent the past four seasons in the AHL and is likely competing for a depth-forward role at best.
Colton Sissons and Marc Johnstone also scored for the Leafs, who carried a 3-2 lead into the third period. The Canadiens tied the game at 2:43 of the final frame, Lane Hutson scooped up a loose puck in front of the net and flipped it past Toronto goaltender Samuel Hlavaj to make it to make it 3-3.
In overtime, Cole Caufield did what he does best: score a game winner. After dancing around Leafs defenceman Logan Shaw, Caufield tipped a return pass from Hutson into the back of the net to give Montréal the victory.
Canadiens Defeat Toronto’s Main Group
The Leafs’ home squad, which featured first-overall draft pick Gavin McKenna, veterans William Nylander, Auston Matthews and John Tavares, as well as free-agent signee, goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, suffered a 4–1 defeat.
Philippe Danault led the way for Montréal with two goals, including an empty-netter. Newly acquired defenceman Darren Raddysh scored Toronto’s lone goal on the power play.
Raddysh’s shot from inside the blue line broke Josh Anderson’s stick before bouncing off Mike Matheson’s stick and into the Canadiens’ net.
McKenna Makes His Presence Felt
With little significance attached to the final score, much of the attention was focused on McKenna. The highly touted prospect logged just over 20 minutes, received time on the second power-play unit and recorded a two minute hooking penalty.
Although he did not score, McKenna created a couple of quality opportunities for his teammates, but neither chance resulted in a goal.
The game also featured a spirited fight between Florian Xhekaj and Marshall Rifai. Rifai showed some grit, but Xhekaj landed the majority of the punches.
The Maple Leafs will return to action Wednesday night when they face the Ottawa Senators in another split-squad exhibition game.
