By Canadian Press

Allen’s 49 saves, Byron’s late goal lifts Canadiens over Maple Leafs to end homestand

Mar 26, 2022 | 8:16 PM

MONTREAL — Jake Allen made 49 saves and Paul Byron scored a late third-period winner as the Montreal Canadiens grabbed a 4-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday night. 

David Savard scored in back-to-back games while Cole Caufield and Christian Dvorak, into the empty net, added goals for Montreal (18-37-10). Savard and Byron each added a helper and Nick Suzuki notched two assists. 

Auston Matthews and William Nylander scored while Mitch Marner picked up two assists for Toronto (40-19-5). Erik Kallgren made 14 saves. 

Byron took advantage of a Toronto turnover with just over two minutes to go in the game. He skated the puck the length of the ice and waited patiently before sealing the game-winner.

The Maple Leafs took 36 seconds to find the opening marker. Michael Bunting, sliding on his knees, found Matthews with a pass and the winger matched his career-high goal tally of 47 with a one-timer. 

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Dvorak levelled the score for the Canadiens but Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe challenged the play for offside. The review showed Suzuki cross the blue line before the puck and the goal was overturned. 

Savard finally tied the game 1-1 at 9:44 of the second when he caught Laurent Dauphin’s cross-ice pass and tapped in Montreal’s equalizer. 

Caufield made Toronto pay for Justin Holl’s interference call with a go-ahead power-play goal. The winger notched his 14th marker of the season with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle at 18:08 of the second period. 

Nylander made it a 2-2 game when he grabbed a loose puck in the slot, found his way around Allen and notched a power-play goal. 

Dvorak finally got his goal back, notching the late empty-netter. 

NOTES: Montreal lost Tyler Pitlick and Michael Pezzetta to injuries in the first and second period, respectively. The team announced during the second intermission that neither would be returning to the game.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 26, 2022.

The Canadian Press