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Canadiens waste early chances, eventually fall apart in 6-0 loss to Leafs

Nov 18, 2017 | 10:00 PM

MONTREAL — The Montreal Canadiens held off the Toronto Maple Leafs for as long as they could, but ultimately fell apart in the second half of the game.

After a scoreless first period, the Canadiens collapsed in the second and third as they were blanked 6-0 by the Maple Leafs on Saturday night.

It is the first time Toronto has won back-to-back games against Montreal since Feb. 2013.

“If we’re able to put one in when we get chances at the beginning of the game, it might be a different story,” said captain Max Pacioretty, who had four shots on net. “But eventually that team will make you pay, they just have so much offence that’s able to come wave after wave.

“They were able to get that first one and they built off that. It was too much and we weren’t able to recover.”

Montreal, which was playing the final game of a six-match homestand, had a good first period as they outshot Toronto 16-7. The visitors only registered their first shot on Charlie Lindgren 6:23 into the period.

The Canadiens held their own in the first half of the second, but two goals in 37 seconds by Ron Hainsey, a slap shot from the point at 12:07, and Nazem Kadri, a wrist shot from the face-off dot at 12:44, shifted the game’s momentum.

“The second goal wasn’t necessarily caused because of a letdown after the first, but it definitely changed things,” said Habs coach Claude Julien. “We had played some good hockey up to that point. We’re making fundamental mistakes that are costing us dearly.

“We had a good performance in the first half but we collapsed in the second period. The scoreline says it all.”

It was the seventh time this season the Canadiens conceded two goals in less than one minute. Julien’s men did it again in the third period, as they gave up goals to James van Riemsdyk and Auston Matthews 48 seconds apart.

Montreal is now 0-6-1 in games where it concedes two goals in less than one minute.

“When they get two goals like that, back-to-back, it’s tough,” said Lindgren, who fell to 3-3-1 on the season. “Two goals in this league is hard to come back from. When you get hit with adversity, you have to punch back.”

Down 2-0 to start the third, the Canadiens (8-11-2) were looking for a big offensive period to snap their two-game losing skid. But Connor Brown scored 25 seconds into the frame for Toronto (14-7-0) as he scooped a rebound in the crease over Lindgren’s pad to effectively end Montreal’s comeback hopes.

“In the third period we needed to come out strong, with a strong push, and they scored on the first shift,” said defenceman Jeff Petry. “We left him (Lindgren) out to dry a couple of times and that’s unacceptable.

“We needed to come out and put the pressure on them to start the third period and fight our way back in the game. But with that third goal, it started our collapse.”

Matthews, in his first game back from an upper-body that kept him out of the Leafs lineup since Nov. 6, scored Toronto’s sixth goal and his second of the game at 15:27 of the third period. He now has 12 goals this season.

Julien put offensive powerhouses Pacioretty, Alex Galchenyuk and Jonathan Drouin on the first line together but the experiment yielded no positive results. Galchenyuk has not scored in nine games while Drouin does not have a goal in his last 14 encounters.

Notes: Montreal is now 4-3-1 without the injured Carey Price… The Maple Leafs have won six games in a row for the first time since Dec. 2014.

Kelsey Patterson, The Canadian Press