Regular Season Game #22: Toronto Maple Leafs @ Montreal Canadiens - Bluejaysfan65's Dynasty

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Regular Season Game #22: Toronto Maple Leafs @ Montreal Canadiens

Posted on August 19, 2013 at 03:47 PM.

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James Van Riemsdyk and Carey Price watch a Jake Gardiner shot find the back of the net

Reimer Sharp As Leafs Top Habs In Rivalry

MONTREAL -- Whenever these two teams face off, it�s always as if someone has lit a fire under them. This time, the Toronto Maple Leafs� fire was much bigger than their rival Montreal Canadiens was. James Reimer led the Leafs to their fifth straight win as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 at the Bell Center in front of a sold out crowd of Canadiens fans, all who went home upset.

Joe Colborne opened the scoring for the Leafs with his first goal of the season three minutes past the halfway point of the first period as he tipped in a Carl Gunnarsson shot past a screened Carey Price. Toronto wouldn�t let up following that goal as young defenseman Jake Gardiner opened the second period with a bang for the Leafs as he netted a breakaway shorthanded goal just one minute into the period to give the Leafs a 2-0 lead. Ryan O�Byrne would soon expand the lead by yet another goal with his first goal of the season from the high slot after taking a pass from rookie forward Matt Frattin just five minutes following Gardiner�s goal.

The Canadiens would get one back with less than a minute remaining in the second period as Lars Eller would bury a beautiful cross-crease pass from captain Brian Gionta to cut the lead to 3-1 with one period left to play. The Canadiens upped the pressure in the third period putting fifteen of their 37 shots on net in the period but the Leafs would add another. Sniper Phil Kessel scored on a two on one after Nazem Kadri drew the defenseman towards him and made the pass to Kessel, who made no mistake burying it.

James Reimer made 36 saves for the win. Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf had the following to say about the spectacular performance in net. �I don�t think that we could have done it without him. He played his @$$ off today and made some key saves in the final few minutes to keep the win�, said Phaneuf, �We should all really thank him.� The Leafs head back home to the Air Canada Center to take on the struggling Buffalo Sabres on Monday.

Dec 1, 2012	1	2	3	F
TOR (13-7-1)	1	2	1	4
MON (11-10-0)	0	1	0	1

Three Stars
	James Reimer, Toronto 1.00 GAA, .974 SV%, 38 SA
	Ryan O'Byrne, Toronto 1 G, 1 A, 2 Hits, 1 Shot
	Jake Gardiner, Toronto 1 G, 1 Hit, 2 Shots

Team Stats Comparison
	TOR	MON
Shots on Goal	19	38
Hits	14	8
Faceoffs Won-Lost	13	8
Penalty Minutes	2:00	0:00
Power Plays Converted	0	0
Power Play Opportunities	0	1
Time on Attack	6:56	5:34

Scoring Summary
FIRST PERIOD
TOR	13:49 J. Colborne (1), (C. Gunnarsson)
SECOND PERIOD
TOR	1:11 J. Gardiner (4), (Unassisted) - SHG
TOR	6:40 R. O'Byrne (1), (M. Frattin, N. Kulemin)
MON	19:08 L. Eller (6), (B. Gionta, R. Bourque)
THIRD PERIOD
TOR	6:39 P. Kessel (9), (N. Kadri, R. O'Byrne)