'Ugly win' still a night to remember for Tavares in Leafs debut Fulfilling his childhood dream of playing for Toronto, John Tavares threw both hands up to celebrate his first goal as a Maple Leaf in his regular-season debut, but the Leafs as a whole were sloppy in a 3-2 OT win over the Canadiens on Wednesday, Kristen Shilton writes.

Kristen Shilton TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter Follow|Archive

TORONTO – The euphoria was etched on John Tavares’ face as soon as the puck he fired found twine.

Fulfilling his childhood dream of playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tavares threw both hands up in the air to celebrate his first goal as a Leaf late in the second period in his regular season debut Wednesday against Montreal.

The night wasn’t a memorable one for the Leafs as a whole, however, as they were sloppy in a 3-2 overtime win over the Canadiens to open their 2018-19 season. But from the raucous reception to his introduction before the game, to the deafening roar following his goal, it was a game Tavares is unlikely to ever forget.

“It was tremendous. To have that kind of welcoming from this fan base and this city is pretty special,” Tavares said. “I’ve said all along, I feel pretty fortunate to have this opportunity. I just want to take advantage of it and give it everything I’ve got and hope to make them proud and hope to be part of a lot of success here.”

Tavares chose the Leafs as his landing spot last July, breaking with convention and signing a seven-year, $77 million free agent contract with Toronto after spending the first nine years of his career with the New York Islanders.

The Leafs lured him with their potential to be a Stanley Cup contender for years to come and with a young core boasting elite offensive talent. The latter, at least, was on display against Montreal in the form of Auston Matthews.

The third-year centreman was Toronto’s best forward on this night, scoring two goals, including the overtime winner, in 17:29 time on ice (compared to 18:04 of ice time for Tavares). Together, Matthews and Tavares became the first set of number one overall picks (Tavares in 2009, Matthews in 2016) to score in the same game for Toronto since Mats Sundin (1986) and Eric Lindros (1991) did it in 2005.

Matthews has made a habit out of performing well in season openers – he scored four goals in his NHL debut in the 2016-17 season, and added one goal and two assists to open his sophomore campaign – but after Wednesday’s win he was more pleased for Tavares’ accomplishment than his own. He now has seven career goals in season openers, tied with Sundin for the most by a Leaf during the last three decades.

“I’m sure it’s a big sigh of relief for him, just to kind of get the monkey off the back and just go play now,” Matthews said. “I can’t imagine what he’s gone through the last three to four months, and all the hype leading into his first game here. Happy for him, he’s a great player and we’ll be seeing more of that throughout the season.”

While it was ultimately a happy ending for Tavares in his first appearance with the Leafs that really counted, the Canadiens came dangerously close to playing spoiler in what Matthews deemed “an ugly win” for Toronto. Montreal out-worked Toronto in nearly every facet of the game, winning battles in all three phases and pouncing on every puck to keep the heat on the Leafs’ defence and goaltender Frederik Andersen.

Toronto’s lazy breakouts and repeated turnovers helped the Canadiens to a dominating 57 per cent possession, and neutralized much of the Leafs’ much vaunted speed game. Even with two points in hand by game’s end, the manner in which the Leafs earned their victory didn’t sit well with head coach Mike Babcock.

“We can work way harder and play way better than we did tonight,” Babcock said. “It’s the National Hockey League and you have to come to work every day and if you don’t work harder than the other team and you don’t put your work before your talent, you don’t win. If you turn the puck over, you don’t win. When the puck drops you’re playing a really good team, doesn’t matter how many points they have.”

TAKEAWAYS

Simmering special teams

The Leafs’ power play and penalty kill were a mixed bag against the Canadiens, going from hot to cold as the game wore on. Tavares’ quick play drew Toronto’s first two penalties, against Jonathan Drouin and Arturri Lehkonen, and Matthews scored the Leafs’ first power play goal of the season with 13 seconds left in the initial chance. But the second man advantage stalled early and never found its legs. When the Tavares group came on the ice with just over a minute left, they spent 30 seconds trying to successfully enter the zone and didn’t challenge Carey Price. Their third power play had potential, with a couple of good setups in front of the net, but a bench minor negated the final 57 seconds, and Toronto finished 1-for-4 with the extra man.

The penalty kill was more productive overall, but the Leafs gave up a soft goal to Andrew Shaw late in the second period that erased Toronto’s 2-1 lead going into the third. But Leafs rookie Par Lindholm shined playing short-handed, after initially struggling to tackle the Leafs’ kill system in training camp. Toronto finished 3-for-4 on the kill.

Andersen on point

Much was made in the preseason about Andersen’s average starts since joining the Leafs in 2016-17, posting a combined record of 8-7-3 in October the last two seasons. At least in his first outing of this campaign, Andersen was one of the Leafs’ best players, calmly turning aside shot after shot in a 34-save performance to keep the score close and give the team a chance to reach overtime.

The 29-year-old goalie starred for Toronto with half a dozen tough saves to start the first period, before Lehkonen finally capitalized on the Leafs’ many turnovers with the game’s opening goal. Knotted 1-1 to start the second, Andersen was forced into a point-blank save after yet another turnover behind the net to keep Toronto tied. By the third, Montreal was still on top of Andersen as Toronto’s defence looked increasingly anemic at even strength, and their penalty kill struggled to contain the Canadiens’ power play attack.

Leivo making his case

With William Nylander’s contract dispute stretching into the regular season, Josh Leivo has been given the opportunity he’s been waiting for – to play a regular role with the Leafs. And he’s not letting it go to waste.

Playing on a line with Nazem Kadri and Connor Brown, Leivo was involved all over the ice Wednesday. He brings a physical edge that Toronto is lacking in the wake of Leo Komarov departing in free agency, but Leivo also has sufficient offensive skills to do damage. If not for a sensational post-to-post save by Price in the second period, Leivo would have buried a cross-crease feed from Kadri for his first of the season. Moments later, he helped set up Tavares’ goal by getting in front of Price and distracting the goalie enough to get Tavares’ shot through. Leivo still has more to do in gaining Babcock’s full trust, though. With the game tied late in the third period, Babcock put Kadri with Brown and Kasperi Kapanen instead of Leivo for the defensive zone draw. Leivo finished plus-1 with one shot on goal.

Let’s get physical?

The Canadiens nearly doubled the Leafs’ hit total on the night, recording 34 to Toronto’s 18. With the departure of Komarov, Matt Martin and Roman Polak since last season, the Leafs are lacking in physicality, which Montreal was able to exploit in winning puck battles and forcing turnovers. Igor Ozhiganov and Travis Dermott were credited with the most hits for Toronto, landing three each.

Next game

The Leafs will welcome another Atlantic Division rival, the Ottawa Senators, on Saturday.

Match Game

How lines matched the majority of the time in Leafs vs. Canadiens:

Marleau-Matthews-Ennis vs. Byron-Domi-Lehkonen

Hyman-Tavares-Marner vs. Tatar-Danault-Gallagher

Leivo-Kadri-Brown vs. Drouin-Kotkaniemi-Armia

Johnsson-Lindholm-Kapanen vs. Hudon-Peca-Shaw

Open ‘Mike’

“Sometimes it doesn’t matter what I say, it’s more about what they know after they get out there. I thought tonight was a really good message and we got two points out of it.”

– Mike Babcock after Toronto’s 3-2 overtime win over Montreal ​