The Leafs opened the game with a beautiful tip by Tim Brent before Kessel buried a goal on a breakaway faking to Price's left and sliding the puck into the net on the right.
Montreal scored soon after; as Carl Gunnarsson failed to clear the puck and Mike Komisarek waved his man to the front of the net. The Leafs got into penalty trouble in the second period but escaped with the lead intact before Clarke MacArthur scored a beautiful dangle through a Montreal pylon defender:
The Habs answered back with another hard nosed goal banging away in the crease a minute later. The end of the third saw Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin draw a penalty with some excellent puck possession. The Leafs failed to score on the power play as Phil Kessel took an off balance shot and was robbed by Carey Price.
The final seconds were textbook last season: the Leafs repeatedly failed to clear the puck and Montreal had a number of excellent chances. Unfortunately for the Francophones they were stoned by J.S. Giguere as the Leafs pick up two points.
| Cheers | Jeers |
1. Giguere's 26-28 (0.928) night set the tone for the Leafs. | 1. The power play went 0-4 and could have made this game a lot less tense. |
| 2. Kessel showed some serious speed and slick hands. | 2. Mike Komisarek looked shaky tonight. Needs to get more involved. |
| 3. Grabovski was all over the puck tonight. | 3. Colby Armstrong needs to bring more for his salary. |
