Paul Byron scored the game-winning goal midway through the third period as the Montréal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 2-1, on the road at Scotiabank Arena in Game 1 of their 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs First Round matchup on Thursday.
Maple Leafs captain, John Tavares, suffered an upper body injury and was hospitalized as a result of a freak accident about midway into the first period.
Ben Chiarot hit Tavares in the open ice as Tavares was entering the neutral zone, before Corey Perry inadvertently clipped Tavares in the head as the Leafs forward’s body bounced along the ice like a rag-doll from Chiarot’s initial check.
Perry had leapt to avoid making a major collision with Tavares, but everything had happened so quickly that Perry might have made things worse– if not just as bad as they would’ve been had he not attempted to bail out with nowhere else to go at the last second.
Toronto’s medical staff assisted Tavares– being deliberate and careful with every move due to the immediate uncertainty of the severity of Tavares’ injury.
The Leafs captain tried to get up and nearly fell backwards head first onto the ice if it weren’t for Toronto’s trainers grabbing hold of their injured player.
As Tavares was being placed on the stretcher, visibly shaken shots of Auston Matthews, Mitchell Marner, Joe Thornton, other teammates and the Canadiens bench were interspersed on the national broadcast with too many cuts of the hit and subsequent second impact on replay.
Tavares gave his teammates a thumbs up as he was stretchered off the ice and was “communicating well,” at a local hospital according to Maple Leafs head coach, Sheldon Keefe, after the game. His initial tests were clear.
Perry and Tavares are good friends and were teammates on Canada’s national team several times over their careers and the Habs forward wished Tavares well with a pat as Tavares was stretchered off the ice and thoughtful remarks after the game for the best possible outcome.
Though Nick Foligno and Perry fought after the ensuing faceoff, it cannot be stressed enough that Perry had no malicious intent in the unfortunate circumstance that led to Tavares’ injury.
Known as a power forward for much of his career, Perry’s offensive talent has waned over the years as last season’s Dallas Stars and this year’s Canadiens have relied on his presence more so for his big frame and grit.
He was most recently suspended five games for elbowing Nashville Predators defender, Ryan Ellis, in the 2020 Winter Classic as a member of the Stars and received a major, as well as a match penalty as a result of the injury to Ellis.
Unlike the supplemental discipline that awaits Colorado Avalanche forward, Nazem Kadri, for his blindside hit on St. Louis Blues defender, Justin Faulk, on Wednesday night, Perry’s knee to Tavares’ head on Thursday was not a deliberate act to injure.
Canadiens goaltender, Carey Price (1-0, 1.00 goals-against average, .972 save percentage in one game played), made 35 saves on 36 shots against in the win for Montréal.
Jack Campbell (0-1, 2.07 goals-against average, .933 save percentage in one game played) stopped 28 out of 30 shots faced in the loss for Toronto.
For the first time since 1979, the Maple Leafs and Canadiens are facing each other in a postseason series. Montréal swept Toronto in four games in the 1979 Quarterfinals, while the last time the Leafs beat the Habs in a playoff series was back in the 1967 Stanley Cup Final (Toronto won in six games).
Riley Nash made his Leafs debut on Thursday after being acquired ahead of the trade deadline and immediately being placed on the long term injured reserve.
After Tavares’ injury, Foligno and Perry dropped the gloves at 10:30 of the first period and received five-minute major penalties for fighting.
Almost two minutes later, Josh Anderson (1) had a breakaway and fired a wrist shot over Campbell’s glove to give the Canadiens a, 1-0, lead at 12:08 of the first period.
Eric Staal (1) and Tyler Toffoli (1) tallied the assists on Anderson’s goal.
Late in the opening frame, Toffoli hooked Zach Hyman and presented the Maple Leafs with the night’s first power play at 18:43.
Toronto did not capitalize on the ensuing skater advantage.
Entering the first intermission, Montréal led, 1-0, on the scoreboard, despite trialing the Maple Leafs, 14-13, in shots on goal.
The Canadiens held the advantage in blocked shots (5-3), hits (28-13) and faceoff win percentage (72-28), while Toronto led in takeaways (3-1).
Both teams had four giveaways each, while only the Leafs had encountered a skater advantage and were 0/1 heading into the middle frame.
Montréal got a taste of a power play at 1:25 of the second period when Justin Holl sent the puck over the glass and out of play, yielding an automatic delay of game minor penalty as a result.
The Habs weren’t able to convert on the resulting skater advantage, however.
Morgan Rielly sent a shot on Price that generated a rebound whereby William Nylander (1) collected the garbage from aside the crease– tying the game, 1-1, in the process.
Rielly (1) and Holl (1) had the assists on Nylander’s goal at 4:28 of the second period.
A couple minutes later, Chiarot was assessed a roughing minor at 6:43, but the Canadiens managed to kill off the penalty without issue.
Late in the period, Montréal got another chance on the power play at 14:35, after Jason Spezza hooked Nick Suzuki, but the Habs couldn’t muster anything on the skater advantage.
Through 40 minutes of action, the score was tied, 1-1, despite Toronto leading in shots on goal, 22-20, including an, 8-7, advantage in the second period alone.
Montréal led in blocked shots (9-5), hits (44-19) and faceoff win% (59-42), while Toronto held the advantage in takeaways (9-5) and giveaways (11-8) entering the second intermission.
Both teams were 0/2 on the power play heading into the final frame.
Marner sent an errant puck over the glass at 2:48 and presented Montréal with another power play at 2:48 of the third period.
Nylander did the same at 7:15.
Both times the Canadiens failed to score on the skater advantage.
Moments later, Tomas Tatar caught Jake Muzzin with a high stick at 11:29 of the third period, leading to a power play for the Leafs.
About a minute later, however, the Habs capitalized on the penalty kill as Joel Armia poked the puck off of Thornton’s blade, leading to a quick breakout for Byron that turned into a short breakaway for the Habs forward.
Byron (1) was tripped before chipping the puck over Campbell’s glove side– negating a delayed penalty– and giving the Canadiens a, 2-1, lead at 12:44 of the third period.
Armia (1) had the only assist on the goal that would go on to be the game-winner as the clock eventually ticked down to zero.
Spezza tripped Shea Weber at 13:54, but the Habs failed to convert on the ensuing power play.
Phillip Danault tripped Hyman at 16:42, but the Leafs couldn’t muster anything on the resulting power play.
Keefe pulled Campbell for an extra attacker with about 2:15 remaining in the game, but it was to no avail– even after Toronto drew up plans to tie the game after a stoppage in play led to Keefe using his timeout with 1:51 remaining in regulation.
At the final horn, the Canadiens had won, 2-1, and taken a 1-0 series lead.
The Maple Leafs finished the night leading in shots on goal, 36-30, including a, 14-10, advantage in the third period alone.
The Habs wrapped up Thursday night’s action leading in blocked shots (13-10), hits (55-27) and faceoff win% (56-44), while both teams had 16 giveaways each.
Montréal finished the night 0/5 on the power play and Toronto went 0/4 on the skater advantage in Game 1.
Montréal has a chance to take a 2-0 series lead on the road Saturday night in Toronto.
Puck drop at Scotiabank Arena is expected to be a little after 7 p.m. ET and fans in the United States can tune to CNBC, while those in Canada can catch the action on CBC, SN or TVAS.
Down the Frozen River 
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