Canadiens 5, Maple Leafs 3
MONTREAL -- Special teams were the difference as the Montreal Canadiens remained undefeated with a 5-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night at the Bell Centre.
Goaltender Carey Price stopped 49 shots for Montreal (9-0-0) and Jonathan Bernier made 22 saves for the Maple Leafs (1-4-2).
Defenseman P.K. Subban, left wingers Lars Eller and Max Pacioretty, center David Desharnais and right winger Brendan Gallagher scored for the Canadiens, who became the first team in NHL history to win nine straight games in regulation to start the season.
Center Leo Komarov, left winger James van Riemsdyk and defenseman Morgan Rielly scored for Toronto.
Rielly's first goal of the season cut Toronto's deficit to 5-3 when he skated in along the right side and fired a shot far side on Price at 7:11 of the third period. It marked
the first time this season that the Canadiens have allowed three goals in a game.
The Canadiens' rejuvenated power play broke the ice at 10:53 of the first period. Pacioretty, along the left wall, fed Subban at the top of the right circle and the defenseman wired a shot that bobbled past Bernier for his first of the season.
Eller doubled Montreal's lead at 1:54 of the second.
Center Alex Galchenyuk showed off his moves with a dangle around Rielly before getting a shot off. Bernier made the save, but the rebound bounced out to Eller, who cashed in on the open side of the net.
The Leafs cut the lead in half less than a minute later. Defenseman Scott Harrington's shot from the point was deflected in front by van Riemsdyk. The puck went to the side of the net, where Komarov was there to send it past Price.
It took Montreal less than two minutes to restore its two-goal lead.
Defenseman Alexei Emelin got the puck out of the Canadiens' end with a quick pass to left winger Tomas Fleischmann, who immediately dished off to Desharnais. The diminutive center carried the puck from the neutral zone in and tried for a backhand feed to Fleischmann, but the puck hit Grabner's skate before sliding past Bernier.
Van Riemsdyk brought Toronto to within one once again at 6:36, capitalizing on Montreal's struggle to clear its zone. Defenseman Dion Phaneuf's point shot hit the back boards and bounced out to the winger to Price's left.
Pacioretty put the Canadiens up 4-2 when he skated two-on-one with center Tomas Plekanec and fooled the Leafs into thinking he was going to pass before sniping five-hole on Bernier at 15:30.
Gallagher extended the lead on the power play at 19:46. Subban took blue-line partner Andrei Markov's feed and sent a nifty shot pass to Gallagher at the side of the net for the easy tip in.
NOTES: Called up by the Maple Leafs on Friday, C Byron Froese made his NHL debut. ... Toronto was without C Tyler Bozak (lower body) and D Jake Gardiner (undisclosed). Both were placed on injured reserve Thursday. The Maple Leafs scratched C Peter Holland and D Frank Corrado. ... Montreal used the same lineup as in its first eight games, with LW Paul Byron, D Jarred Tinordi and D Greg Pateryn as healthy scratches. ... The game marked Maple Leafs RW Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau's return to Montreal after he was traded to Toronto early last summer. ... Canadiens D Andrei Markov's five-point effort on Friday night moved him into a tie with Bob Gainey for 23rd on the club's career points list among all position players.