MONTREAL — There’s little arguing that the Montreal Canadiens hold the best pre-game ceremonies in the National Hockey League, usually affairs full of pomp and with just the right touch.
On Wednesday night at the Bell Centre, that was no different prior to the 2022-23 regular-season opener against the Maple Leafs. The loudest cheers came for injured goalie Carey Price, though the response for new captain Nick Suzuki was not far off.
And how about those Leafs, a team with Stanley Cup aspirations that hasn’t yet figured out how to win in the first round? They were perfect guests for the Canadiens, serving up a sloppy brand of hockey that few saw coming after what was a solid three weeks of camp and pre-season.
The end — a giveaway by Jake Muzzin in front of the Toronto net after the Leafs couldn’t kill the clock in the offensive zone — was fitting, considering the way the Leafs played from the opening faceoff.
It was Josh Anderson with the winning goal, beating goalie Matt Murray on a pass from Suzuki to give Montreal a 4-3 win and a great reason for a raucous crowd to go off celebrating into the night.
“It was early-season sloppiness, but I don’t expect that,” said Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe, who barely concealed his exasperation.
“For everything our team has been through together, that’s unacceptable. We have to be be way more responsible.
“Nothing wrong with our effort, it was just careless. I expect more, our group should expect more. Not good enough, so you deserve to lose.”
Ouch, but Keefe certainly hit the nail on the head. The Leafs, who play host to the Washington Capitals in the home opener on Thursday night at Scotiabank Arena, will have to be a lot better in order to register their first win.
“Tough one to swallow in the last few minutes,” Leafs captain John Tavares said. “We give one up, we tie it, we give one up again.
“Disappointing. We have to learn from it quick and get back in front of Leafs Nation tomorrow and feed off our fans and get home and bounce back.”
Said Murray of the winning goal: “Takes a couple bounces, ends up right on their tape in the slot, didn’t see the release and the guy put it post and in.”
Montreal appeared to be in good shape when Sean Monahan beat a lunging Murray at 17:30 of the third for a 3-2 lead.
But the Leafs tied the game at 18:10 when William Nylander took a pass from John Tavares and chipped a shot past goalie Jake Allen.
A point in regulation, had the Leafs survived through the final minute, would have been a bonus.
“There is no excuse that we’re going to accept (for the manner in which the Leafs played),” defenceman Morgan Rielly said. “Yes, it’s our first game, but we’re ready.”
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When the Leafs weren’t watching the Canadiens going the other way on odd-man rushes, they failed to take advantage of a generally inexperienced Montreal defence corps. Kaiden Guhle and Arber Xhekaj were making their NHL debuts, and in total, the Montreal D-men had 932 NHL games on their collective resumes, compared to 1,024 for the Leafs’ Mark Giordano alone.
Keefe talked earlier in the day about the importance of stressing the Canadiens’ defence and getting to goalie Jake Allen, but that didn’t happen with any consistency. The Leafs never were able to sustain pressure at any point. The power play, meanwhile, was ineffective and went 0-for-4.
“I thought our guys hung (Murray) out to dry,” Keefe said. “(The Canadiens) are one of the most dangerous teams in the NHL on the rush.
“We talked about that this morning, talked about that before the game and we fed right into it.”
The Leafs had several chances to ensure they had a lead heading into the third period. Instead, the game was tied 2-2.
Alex Kerfoot failed to score on the first penalty shot of his NHL career, awarded at 17:20 of the second when he was hooked by Xhekaj.
Earlier in the period, Auston Matthews and Denis Malgin hit the post, while Allen made a couple of fine glove saves on Nylander.
The Canadiens thought they might have taken a 3-2 lead seconds before the Kerfoot penalty shot, but a lengthy review showed that the puck did not cross the goal line on a wraparound attempt by Kirby Dach.
Credit goes to Murray for getting over along the line to deny the Montreal forward. Not so much for Nicolas Aube-Kubel’s careless play that led to the chance.
Michael Bunting scored the only goal in the first period, but Cole Caufield got it back at 33 seconds of the second.
Denis Malgin scored his first as a Leafs midway through the second, but Caufield, dangerous all night, answered seven minutes later.
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