Price stops 31 shots as Canadiens top Maple Leafs again, 2-1
MONTREAL (AP) Carey Price made 31 saves and the Montreal Canadiens ended a three-game skid with a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.
Paul Byron and Alex Galchenyuk scored for the Canadiens (14-3-2), who have won 12 straight games against their oldest rival dating to Jan. 18, 2014.
William Nylander scored for the Maple Leafs (8-7-3), who were coming off a pair of home wins in which they totaled 12 goals.
Montreal fired 29 shots at Frederik Andersen.
Byron was on the doorstep to jam the rebound of Shea Weber's shot past Andersen at 15:45 of the first period. It was the diminutive winger's seventh goal this season, only four shy of his career high.
The Canadiens were 5 seconds into a power play when Galchenyuk also got his seventh of the season. He won a faceoff back to Weber, who slid the puck to Alexander Radulov on the right wing for a perfect feed in front. Galchenyuk, the team's scoring leader, put the puck into an open side 32 seconds into the second.
Toronto struck back on the man advantage at 8:47 on an equally sweet three-way passing play, this time in tight traffic as the puck went from Auston Matthews to Leo Komarov to Nylander alone on the right side for his sixth of the season.
It was the second meeting this season between the rivals. The Canadiens also won 2-1 at home on Oct. 29. Their next two matchups are in Toronto on Jan. 7 and Feb. 25.
NOTES: Radulov was back in the lineup after missing two games with an illness. ... Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty played his 500th NHL game. ... Martin Marincin, Peter Holland and Frank Corrado were scratched for Toronto, while Montreal sat Daniel Carr and Greg Pateryn.
UP NEXT
Maple Leafs: Host the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.
Canadiens: Host the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.
