Maple Leafs fall in disappointing 4-3 loss

Toronto Maple Leafs cannot hold on to late game tie; fall to Montreal Canadiens 4-3

An unfortunate final score for a team that had put up such an immense fight throughout the entire game.

The Montreal Canadiens joined the Boston Bruins in being the first two teams to record victories in the 2014-2015 season, as the Habs overthrew the Toronto Maple Leafs in the final minutes of the game.

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For two teams that are generally ranked miles apart, the game was alarmingly close. The Maple Leafs closed an early lead by the Canadiens when Nazem Kadri responded to Max Pacioretty’s game-opening goal less than four minutes after the first goal was scored. The Leafs then fired off a second snap shot, as highly controversial forward Tyler Bozak managed to make the most of a power-play towards the end of the first period.

Overall, both teams played a clean, effective game. The Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t seem to struggle with possession or speed as much as was feared, and the game looked as even as the score would indicate.

The Maple Leafs lost their 2-1 lead when the Canadiens fired off two unanswered goals in the second and third periods; the Toronto team had a chance to push the game into overtime with a score-tying third goal at the 17:41 mark, but the Canadiens quickly pushed ahead again with a goal by Tomas Plekanec at the 19:17. The Leafs had a couple of close attempts in the last seconds of the game, as they pulled goaltender Jonathan Bernier out in order to put an extra attacker on the ice, but ultimately were unable to pull off a fourth goal before the final buzzer sounded.

The Leafs were only able to hold on to a shooting lead for the first period, as the Canadiens would outshoot them 32-27 overall. Toronto walked away from the season-opening matchup with fourteen more hits than their Atlantic Division rivals, though, and were the only team able to meet with success on the power play.

Both teams were alarmingly close in possession numbers, suggesting that the analytics-heavy 28-year-old Maple Leafs assistant GM, Kyle Dubas, might actually be having an impact on the club.

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Montreal Canadiens vs Toronto Maple Leafs final score: Maple Leafs fall in disappointing 4-3 loss to Canadiens

By Catherine Silverman | Oct 8, 2014

Toronto Maple Leafs cannot hold on to late game tie; fall to Montreal Canadiens 4-3

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