Maple Leafs 2, Canadiens 0
Matthew Lombardi scored a shorthanded goal in his first action in nearly a year, leading the Toronto Maple Leafs past the Montreal Canadiens 2-0 Thursday night in the season opener for both teams.
Dion Phaneuf added a goal and an assist and James Reimer turned aside all 32 shots he faced as the Leafs sent a near-capacity Air Canada Centre crowd of 19,606 home happy.
Lombardi, who hadn't played in the NHL since suffering a concussion last Oct. 13 with the Nashville Predators, put Toronto ahead by slapping a loose puck from in front of the goal past a prone Carey Price.
After the Maple Leafs squandered a 5-on-3 power-play to close the second period, Phaneuf doubled the advantage early in the third, blasting a pass from Phil Kessel over Price's left shoulder about an inch below the crossbar.
Reimer shut the door the rest of the way, making a pair of saves on a last-minute Montreal power play for his fourth career shutout. It was the first opening-night blanking by Toronto since Ed Belfour shut out the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 10, 2002.
Price made 16 saves for the Canadiens, who were 0-for-5 with the man advantage.