Toronto Maple Leafs: Matthews and Tavares help defence overcome subpar performance

The Toronto Maple Leafs edged the Montreal Canadiens in overtime as Auston Matthews and John Tavares help the defence overcome a subpar effort.

It was a closer game than most imagined but the Toronto Maple Leafs were able to knock off the Montreal Canadiens in overtime 3-2 in the regular season opener. 

Auston Matthews and John Tavares came up big for the Leafs as expected especially in overtime with Matthews continuing his hot streak against the Habs. Defensively, the Leafs were given a tough time by the Canadiens forcing Frederik Andersen to see a high volume of shots against but Toronto was able to get the goals when they needed it.

The Canadiens definitely came out with a purpose and when they got the first goal it definitely woke the Leafs up and for the rest of the period, the momentum shifted. Where it got worrisome was in the third period when the Leafs struggled to sustain offensive zone time and weren’t able to get out of their own end.

After the game Babcock made it a point to address the effort his team had in the defensive zone and how he wasn’t pleased with it and what his team can take from it.

"“This is a different kind of team with a different set of expectations. You know, when you’re real scared, it’s easy to work hard,” Babcock told reporters postgame. “When you’re not as scared, it’s not as easy to work hard. Hopefully that’ll put a little scare in us and we’ll get going.”"

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It is easy to not take a team like Montreal serious given the lack of talent they have but usually a less talented team will be motivated to try and outwork their opposition.

At five-on-five, the Canadiens had a 57.27 CF% according to Natural Stat Trick and when you look at the high-danger scoring chances they were in Montreal’s favour at 14-9. It doesn’t help that the Leafs had 21 giveaways while the Habs only had 10.

Now it wasn’t all bad for the Leafs blueline, as Travis Dermott and Igor Ozhiganov were impressive as they did a good job closing the gaps, moving the puck and contribute in the offensive zone.

Luckily for the Leafs, they have Matthews and Tavares to take advantage of the chances available to them especially on the power play where Matthews unloaded one of his nicest shots of his short career.

It didn’t end there with Tavares getting his first official goal since joining the Leafs this summer. What was impressive about Tavares’ goal was how he took the puck, forced the defenceman to overplay their position with a quick juke to the left and put the puck in a perfect place.

Even though the Leafs didn’t have a top-notch performance, it is the first game of the season and Babcock will always take the win because they are hard to come by.

Also, give Montreal credit for how they played in this game by using their speed to make life tough for the Leafs defence and force turnovers. Carey Price was also on his game but whether he can carry them will be a tough challenge.

What did you think about the Leafs game? Who stood out for you and who didn’t have a great game? Let us know in the comments below.