Maple Leafs at Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens kicked off their season with a 3-1 victory in Toronto, setting the tone that will see them carry a perfect record into Saturday's home matchup against the Maple Leafs. Montreal continued its dominant start with a 7-2 road victory over Buffalo on Friday to improve to 8-0-0, with each of the last four wins coming by at least three goals.
The Canadiens became the sixth team to open a season with eight consecutive victories and are two shy of matching the 1993-94 Maple Leafs and 2006-07 Sabres for the best start in league history. Montreal pulled away from a 2-2 tie midway through the game at Buffalo with five unanswered tallies, boosting its goal differential to a staggering plus-21 (30-9). After rookie Mike Condon got the start on Friday, Carey Price will be back in net against Toronto after posting shutouts in two of his previous three starts. The Maple Leafs have won only once - at Columbus - as they wrap up a four-game road trip.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, CBC, TVA
ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (1-3-2): Toronto opted to shake up its roster by trading away Phil Kessel during the offseason, leaving a gaping void in the goal-scoring department. The Maple Leafs have been limited to one tally or fewer in four of six games following Wednesday's 2-1 shootout loss at Buffalo, and their leading scorers are defenseman Dion Phaneuf and Daniel Winnik with four points apiece. Things don't figure to improve as Tyler Bozak, a 23-goal scorer last season, and defenseman Jake Gardiner were placed on injured reserve Friday.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (8-0-0): Offense is coming from all over the ice for Montreal as Brendan Gallagher and Dale Weise scored a pair of goals apiece in Friday's win, but they had to cede a starring role to Andrei Markov. The veteran defenseman registered the first five-point game of his career with a goal and four assists while Tomas Plekanec set up three tallies to join captain Max Pacioretty for the team lead with nine points. Pacioretty, who scored his team-high sixth goal on Friday, has notched 14 tallies and 22 points in 22 games versus Toronto.
OVERTIME
1. Price has allowed six goals in his six starts.
2. The Maple Leafs recalled F Byron Froese from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.
3. Markov surpassed 500 career points and Plekanec eclipsed 300 assists Friday.