TORONTO (AP) — Josh Anderson and Alexandre Carrier each had a goal and assist as the Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 Tuesday night in the teams' season opener.
Zachary Bolduc also scored for Montreal, which got 25 saves from Jakub Dobes.
William Nylander scored twice for Toronto. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 21 shots in his first game with the Maple Leafs.
No. 1 overall pick Gavin McKenna and Russian winger Kirill Marchenko also made their Toronto debuts – along with seven other teammates – following an off-season of change after the Original Six franchise missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade last spring.
The Canadiens, meanwhile, are coming off a campaign that saw them take a massive step following a long before falling to the Stanley Cup-winning Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference final.
Nylander opened the scoring just 48 seconds into the first period when he stepped around Montreal captain and reigning Selke Trophy winner Nick Suzuki at the blue line before ripping a high shot past Dobes. Nylander tied Zdenek Nedved (Oct. 7, 1995) for the fourth-fastest goal to start a season-opener in franchise history.
Anderson tied the score at 10:53 when he batted a rebound out of the air in front. Bolduc gave Montreal the lead, scoring from the slot at 4:52 of the second, and Carrier beat Bobrovsky on the glove side at 13:12 of the third.
Nylander cut the deficit to a goal with 4:14 left in regulation.
Up next
Canadiens: At the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
Maple Leafs: Host the New York Islanders on Wednesday.
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