First period
- Oliver Kapanen helps launch a rush, and Zachary Bolduc puts the first puck on net of the game on a deflection from the slot.
- I think the players have already burned more calories than in the entire first period on Thursday.
- There’s some type of alarm going off in Scotiabank Arena. Not quite as loud as the one in Habsland the past couple of days.
- Lucas Condotta stands at the top of the crease after Anthony Stolarz corralled the puck and Max Domi comes over to inform him that they don’t believe in that type of intensity in Toronto.
- Ten minutes later and that alarm is still going off.
- After giving Condotta a stern talking to on his last shift, Domi goes over and throws his hands high on Lane Hutson before he plays the puck. He’s going to the box, but so is Jayden Struble for going after Domi afterward. That’s probably more important than a power play anyway.
- Hutson find a wide-open Adam Engström early in the four-on-four, but the Swede’s shot is stopped.
- Bolduc’s shot generates a rebound, and Alexander Carrier shows great patience with the rebound to find Alex Newhook speeding right to the slot. It’s a breakaway from 40 feet out, and Newhook gets the puck to trickle over the line.
Not sure Alex Newhook even got all of this shot, but hey, they don't ask how. #gohabsgo
— Matt Drake (@drakemt.bsky.social) September 27, 2025 at 8:33 PM
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- Dauphin makes contact with Stolarz, and now we have a scrum. And a goalie interference penalty.
- Montreal is playing very aggressively against the Leafs’ power-play zone entry.
- Good kill for Montreal, with only one save needed.
- Owen Beck just used his speed to create a two-on-one with Sammy Blais, but it didn’t result in a shot as Beck tried to force the pass across.
- Kapanen is very noticeable in his neutral-zone work tonight. He was the aggressive one on the penalty kill I mentioned earlier.
- A very good period for Montreal, especially considering half of the players are AHLers.
Second period
- Someone forgot to tell Lane Hutson that this is just a pre-season game. He’s making Leafs players look even sillier than usual tonight. Eager to repeat as the Calder Trophy-winner he is.
- Hutson just turned his stick over and made a precision poke of the puck as his man tried to skate around him, and turned the play up ice.
- The fans are booing, so I think that means Hutson is going on the power play after these messages.
- Montreal wins the opening draw, the linesman aggressively blows his whistle to kill the play and yell at the Leafs player.
- Hutson and a group of AHL players just made it 2-0 Montreal. Riley Kidney ended up with the goal.
Riley Kidney is johnny on the spot to make it 2-0 #Habs
— Matt Drake (@drakemt.bsky.social) September 27, 2025 at 9:23 PM
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- More impressive work from Kidney. This might be his best game since he became a professional.
- Tyler Thorpe ends up in the box for getting his hands up while hitting Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
- Xhekaj hands the puck right to John Tavares, and a second later the Leafs get on the board.
- Toronto has too many players on the ice trying to defend the Habs’ attack, so it’s time for an encore from Hutson & the Minors.
- Hutson walks in, fakes a shot, shifts over to walk in a little more, and rips the puck over the blocker of Stolarz.
Lane Hutson has been working on that shot. #gohabsgo pic.twitter.com/kkj2IF4XBx
— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) September 28, 2025
- If he was worried about his roster spot, I think he’s safe.
- Montreal has 18 shots after two periods. Bolduc and Carrier lead the way with three apiece.
Third period
- RDS is trying a little too hard to make Joe Veleno seem like a quality player. He’s fine, but he’s not better than the other players destined for the AHL in this game.
- Engström steps in front of Nick Robertson after the Leafs forward dumped the puck in, and goes off for interference.
- Domi hits the post on a shot from the right circle.
- Beck speeds away on a breakaway from inside his own zone, but he just doesn’t have the finishing skill to capitalize on the chance.
- The Leafs have started to try a little harder in this period, so the Canadiens will need to work to see out this win.
- Alex Belzile picks off a pass in the neutral zone, and the Canadiens immediately have a three-on-two. Belzile can’t quite decide whether to pass it or shoot it, but Sean Farrell is following up the play to poke it in for a 4-1 lead.
Alex Belzile kinda flubs this pass, but Sean Farrell gets it and puts it in the back of the net all the same. #gohabsgo pic.twitter.com/Vcqv4kdNYj
— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) September 28, 2025
- Perhaps one last look for Hutson on the power play tonight as OEL goes off for hooking Struble.
- Good movement from an all-AHL unit led by Engström.
- Struble has a shot deflected … right to the nose of the referee, who crumples to the ice. Fortunately, it looks like he’ll be alright.
- Both William Nylander and John Tavares are near the net as the puck goes around the boards, and Marc Del Gaizo can’t defend both of them. It’s a 4-2 game as Nylander scores.
- The Leafs pull Artur Akhtyamov, who came on to play the third period, and go six-on-five.
- Montreal ices the puck several times looking for an empty-netter, but you can do that with a two-goal lead.
- “Olés” ring out at Scotiabank Arena as the clock hits 00:00
- The main takeaway from this game is that the Laval Rocket should be really good again this season.
- Montreal wins 4-2 and moves to 3-1 in the pre-season.
