Leafs bounce back from three down, stun Canadiens

MONTREAL – As the clock ticked down to zero, a half-empty Centre Bell erupted into cheers as the leftover Toronto Maple Leafs supporters who made the trip to Montreal celebrated a memorable comeback.

After trailing 3-0 at the end of the first period, the visitors exploded for seven unanswered goals, including one into an empty-net, sealing a 7-3 victory over the rival Montreal Canadiens on Saturday evening.

Bobby McMann, Nicholas Robertson, William Nylander, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Steven Lorentz, Auston Matthews and David Kampf found the back of the net for Toronto (22-18-4), which maintained its one-point lead over the Florida Panthers atop the Atlantic Division.

Kirby Dach, Patrik Laine and Josh Anderson scored for Montreal (28-16-2).

A HISTORIC COMEBACK

The rivalry between Montreal and Toronto goes back well over a century, with the two clubs facing off for the first time on Dec. 17, 1917. In that time, the Maple Leafs have won 335 of the 849 total games, but Saturday night was just the third time ever that they had managed to overturn a 3-0 deficit and win.

“It’s a great rivalry, we all know that, and we talked about this ‘just going into another game’ but this isn’t just another game, this is a big game for both teams,” said Toronto head coach Craig Berube.

“We got our feet under us and started playing the right way. This is a great comeback win for the guys.”

The other two comebacks against the Canadiens after being down 3-0 occurred in 1919 and 1969.

MONTREAL HUMBLED

Before the game against Toronto, Montreal had been the most in-form team in the league, boasting a record of 8-1-1 in their last 10 — a league-best — and had won 11 of their last 14. After the first period 3-0 lead, it seemed the high-flying Canadiens were en route to firmly cementing themselves as contenders for a playoff spot.

“It was an odd game. We had an amazing first period and even a pretty good second where we could have been leading by even more,” said head coach Martin St Louis. “You hit a post they come right back and score, we didn’t do ourselves any favours by taking penalties, and they got bounces to go their way in the third. The game slipped through our fingers in the third.”

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While the Canadiens have grown comfortable playing in and winning one- or two-goal games during their recent run of form, that seemed to be when they were at their most vulnerable. Montreal had only lost one game after leading during the first period, which made the sudden collapse seem all the more out-of-character.

“They just capitalized on their chances, and we gave them a couple power plays. We knew they were going to come out hard in the second period and that first shift in the third didn’t help us at all,” said Josh Anderson. “Best thing about it is we play tomorrow (Sunday) night.”

UP NEXT

Maple Leafs: Host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday.

Canadiens: Host the New York Rangers on Sunday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 18, 2025.

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