Although the Toronto Maple Leafs dominated the shot differential and the expected goals, it ultimately did not matter during Wednesday’s season opener, falling 1-0 to the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.
Cole Caufield scored the game’s lone goal on the power play during the first period and it’s all the Canadiens needed as Sam Montembeault proved to be unstoppable, making 47 saves in the winning effort.
Sam Montembeault proved to be unbeatable and may be in line for Canada’s No. 1 role
Sam Montembeault has carried an interesting player profile from a league-wide lens over the past two years, generating decent underlying numbers on a Canadiens team that has often left him out to dry. It’s only Game 1, but a matchup between two historical Original Six rivals with deeply passionate fan bases is about as high-profile as opening night gets, and Montembeault was out of this world with all eyes on him.
Montembeault improved as the game went on, as an uptempo, choppy first period led to a game that was dictated by special teams and Caufield got the Canadiens on the board just under eight minutes into the first frame. From there onwards, the Maple Leafs woke up and their true talent level showed, but Montembeault was calm, making several high-danger saves and he saved 5.2 goals above expected in all situations via Natural Stat Trick – 4.3 goals saved above expected at 5-on-5. If you want to be glib and say the posts made some of those stops, fair enough, but Montembeault was out of this world and got better as the game went on.
Auston Matthews was robbed by Montembeault on a few different occasions and after Montreal’s goaltender stopped a one-timed rocket from Toronto’s captain, the Bell Centre crowd showered him with ‘Monty’ chants that were audible through the broadcast. Matthews almost scored during the dying seconds of the game, but Montembeault once again shut the door.
And in between, Montembeault stopped Oliver Ekman-Larsson on a breakaway, where Toronto’s defenceman didn’t realize how much space he had and rushed a hurried, harmless wrist shot to no avail. Montembeault was the reason why the Canadiens won during opening night, patching over the disparity in talent between both sides. It’s why you play the games, and the 27-year-old may be pulling into pole position for Canada’s starting goaltender spot at the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off in 2025.
Anthony Stolarz was tremendous during a chaotic day for Maple Leafs’ goalies
It was a chaotic day for the Maple Leafs’ goaltending but Anthony Stolarz was tremendous for the Maple Leafs and deserved a better fate. You can’t even really call Cole Caufield’s goal a blemish as Stolarz was beaten on a cross-crease feed that wasn’t picked up in time by either Mitch Marner or Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
“I thought he was our best player tonight,” Auston Matthews said of Stolarz post-game via The Athletic’s Joshua Kloke.
Stolarz’s performance comes on the heels of an opening day where Joseph Woll was unexpectedly ruled out due to injury, while Dennis Hildeby was called up on an emergency basis. It was then reported by salary cap resource PuckPedia, then shared widely that Woll would be placed on injured reserve, and would miss at least three games per the provisions of IR. Stolarz may be back between the pipes again, against his hometown New Jersey Devils on Thursday evening, while Hildeby is still yet to make his first NHL start.
“It’s something we’ve got to discuss here,” Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said post-game, when asked if Stolarz would be in line for a second consecutive start, via TSN’s Mark Masters.
Stolarz made a huge save on Juraj Slafkovsky early in the first period and still rallied after Caufield opened the scoring. He was far and away the MVP of a sloppy first period for the Maple Leafs, and kept his team alive as Toronto began to dominate possession and scoring chances. He made an excellent save on a crashing Christian Dvorak during the second period, and fended off a 5-on-3, caused by two consecutive drawn penalties from Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki, nearly singlehandedly. And he rallied again to stop Alex Newhook on a dangerous chance, where he corralled a bouncing puck.
It’s only one night, which makes this an overreaction theatre of sorts, but Stolarz showed why he was a smart, cost-effective bet for the Maple Leafs. It’s truly unfortunate that his counterpart channeled the spirit of Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy on a wild opening night at the Bell Centre that the score belies.
Conor Timmins’ undisciplined start to the game calls into question Liljegren benching
Conor Timmins won the No. 6 spot in Toronto’s lineup, usurping Timothy Liljegren for a spot on the opening day lineup. Liljegren and his camp are reportedly unhappy and the Maple Leafs are seeking new destinations for him, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported Wednesday night.
As for the game itself, Timmins’ lack of discipline opened the game up for the Canadiens, where he took a slashing penalty on Juraj Slafkovsky, the result of taking a poor angle to the puck. Caufield scored on the ensuing power play and it proved to be the difference on a night where Toronto’s forwards threw everything at Montembeault and had no answers.
Timmins never really earned Sheldon Keefe’s trust but under a new head coach, his willingness to create offense and take risks seemingly appears to Berube, in a way where Liljegren hasn’t endeared himself yet. And ultimately, this is a matter of comfort with risk profile but if Timmins’ mistake directly led to the game’s lone goal, Liljegren at the very least should be afforded a shot in Thursday’s lineup against the Devils — unless, of course, you surmise that Timmins is motivated by a chance to prove Keefe wrong, but these slights often mean more to us as writers, than professional athletes.
Granted, you could look at Timmins’ underlying numbers from Wednesday’s opener and could surmise that there’s nothing truly wrong, and that the Maple Leafs ultimately were ‘goalied’ by Montembeault. This may be the analysis a month from now. And this isn’t a call for Timmins’ benching, merely that it should be a split between him and Liljegren, until the mistakes stop compounding for both players.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson provides new offensive wrinkle on blue line
Midway through Sportsnet’s broadcast, a graphic flashed showing that the 2023-24 Maple Leafs received the fewest offensive contributions from defencemen than any team in the NHL. Oliver Ekman-Larsson appeared to be on a one-man mission to change the narrative and was constantly looking to attack the net throughout the opener, including a first-period sequence where Marner surveyed the ice and found Ekman-Larsson crashing down off the opposite wing.
Ekman-Larsson was sprung on a breakaway but unfortunately, he didn’t realize he was in all alone with no one closing down on him and took a weird outside angle before throwing a speculative wrist shot on net, rather than trying to fake out Montembeault. He isn’t a forward after all, so there’s some leeway but it could’ve been Toronto’s most dangerous chance of the net and it barely made a dent. But later in the second period, Ekman-Larsson hit the post and he was constantly looking to throw pucks at the net, creating real chances for John Tavares and company.
On a different night, it wouldn’t be particularly surprising to see Ekman-Larsson on the scoresheet a few times, but bad luck compounds for all during a 1-0 shutout.
Mitch Marner drove Toronto’s top line but will anyone remember in shutout?
Mitch Marner was quietly terrific for the Maple Leafs but ultimately, will anyone remember during a 1-0 shutout loss? Marner was paired with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies on Toronto’s top line, which outshot its opponents 16-6 in 10:37 at 5-on-5, but ultimately couldn’t find a goal, despite controlling 85.4 percent of the expected goals.
Marner was looking for his teammates, he was a willing shooter, recording a team-high five shots at 5-on-5 and six shots in all situations, tied with Matthews for the team lead overall. Toronto’s dynamic winger tracked back throughout the contest and broke up dangerous scoring chances for the Canadiens, helped the team control play and ultimately, like many of his teammates, was unlucky during the opening night loss. Marner and the Maple Leafs are afforded a new start against the Devils on Thursday, but there’s no need to burn the tape after a strong performance that unfortunately proved fruitless.
