Montreal Canadiens won 2-1 on the first-round playoff series on Thursday. Paul Bryon scored the winning goal with less than eight minutes left in the regulation. Carey Price made 35 saves, and the Canadiens carried the game.
Josh Anderson scored the first goal for Montreal that finished 18 points behind the first-place Toronto in the NHL regular season. William Nylander evened 1-1, and Jack Campbell made 28 saves.
Bryon passed rookie defenceman Rasmus Sandin who tried to frag the Montreal forward down but luckily shot the puck at Campbell 7:46 minutes to the end of the third period.
Toronto has been without a playoff series win since 2004. Leaf ended the first period with a power-play, Price was bailed out of his position by a shot made by Auston Matthews.
Nylander had another chance later in the first period, but could not find a good hit. Anderson had a chance early in the third, but CaRielly blocked it off. Nylander had another delay of game penalty, the third of the night.
Outside Scotiabank Arena, it was nothing like the usual playoff series leadup. This is because of the COVID-19 restrictions that have kept people from attending in-person games.
However, Quebec has given Canadiens the green light to allow 2, 500 fans into the Bell Centre for the 6th game of the series. The Thursday game was the first head-to-head post-season series. In the last Stanley Cup series, Toronto beat Montreal and secured the cup.
