New-look Leafs get jump on the Habs with season opening win
J-S Giguere made sure the Toronto Maple Leafs season got off to a winning start.
The veteran goaltender made 26 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 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.
"He played really well," said Wilson. "He focuses and battles every shot. Looking at the game, this is probably one that last year we'd get tied against in the last minute. Because of a couple of great saves, we ended up preserving the win."
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 players 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 nice 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.
Lars Eller replaced Cammalleri on a line with Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Kostitsyn, and did an admirable job in just his eighth NHL game. He had a chance from his knees in the second period but Giguere got his pad on it.
The fans at Air Canada Centre had the chance to get on Price early.
Brent opened the scoring with just the second goal of his NHL career at 6:42, redirecting a point shot from Dion Phaneuf high over the Habs goalie. Kessel made it 2-0 a little over two minutes later when he was sent in alone by linemate Tyler Bozak and managed to slide the puck under Price. But Montreal struck back quickly.
Boyd, acquired in an off-season trade, picked off a pass from Leafs defenceman Carl Gunnarsson behind the goal and quickly wheeled out in front. He knocked a rebound past Giguere at 12:19.
Notes:Leafs defencemen Brett Lebda (shoulder) and Jeff Finger (knee) sat out, while forward John Mitchell was a healthy scratch ... Carey Price was sporting a new mask with a bucking bronco on each side over top of the team's logo. It has his last name along the bottom. ... Announced attendance was 19,646.
