J.S. Giguere made sure the Toronto Maple Leafs season got off to a winning start.
The veteran goaltender made 25 saves Thursday as the Leafs edged the short-staffed Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in the regular season opener for both teams.
Goaltending was one of the key reasons Leafs coach Ron Wilson felt good heading into the year, and Giguere justified that optimism. He kicked away a great Andrei Kostitsyn chance early and poke-checked the puck off Lars Eller's stick in the third period with his team clinging to a one-goal lead.
Giguere also weathered a late storm as the Habs pushed for the tying goal, sticking out his left pad to deny Canadiens captain Brian Gionta twice from in close.
Tim Brent, Phil Kessel and Clarke MacArthur scored for the Maple Leafs, who won their first home opener since October 2000.
Dustin Boyd and Jeff Halpern replied in their first games for Montreal.
It was a typically tight game between the old rivals, who needed extra time to decide five of their six meetings a year ago. That includes last season's opener, when Montreal tied it late before pulling out a 4-3 win in overtime.
Only six Leafs who played in that game were on the ice for this one - a sign of the massive overhaul GM Brian Burke has undertaken over the last 12 months.
MacArthur, one of the new faces, scored the eventual winner. He made a nice play to beat Habs defenceman Jaroslav Spacek before putting a backhander behind Carey Price at 1:36 of the third period.
Halpern replied last than a minute later to make it 3-2, but that was as close as Montreal would get.
Toronto took advantage of a Canadiens team that was missing some key personnel. Winger Mike Cammalleri sat out a one-game suspension while defencemen Andrei Markov and Roman Hamrlik were each recovering from knee injuries. Eller replaced Cammalleri on a line with Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn, and did an admirable job in just his eighth NHL game.
The Canadian Press
