Montreal 4, Toronto 1
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, April 7, 2012
Where: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec
Referees:
Jean Hebert, Kelly Sutherland
Linesmen:
Michel Cormier, Scott Cherrey
Attendance:
21273
By SportsDirect Inc.
CANADIENS 4, MAPLE LEAFS 1: Max Pacioretty recorded a goal and an assist as Montreal concluded a disappointing season with a 4-0-2 mark over its last six home games.
Tomas Plekanec, Erik Cole and Brad Staubitz also scored while Peter Budaj made 30 saves for the Canadiens, who finished 16-15-10 at the Bell Centre while missing the playoffs for the first time since 2006-07.
Montreal grabbed the lead 3:20 into the game as Plekanec scored on a shorthanded breakaway.
After knocking the puck away from Toronto rookie defenseman Jake Gardiner at the left point, Plekanec raced down the ice and attempted to move the puck from his backhand to his forehand. Even though he lost control, the puck slid between Ben Scrivens' pads for his 17th goal.
Pacioretty beat Scrivens from the bottom of the left faceoff circle after a bad line change by the Maple Leafs 78 seconds into the middle period for a 2-0 lead. It was Pacioretty's third tally in as many contests following an 11-game drought.
Toronto captain Dion Phaneuf halved the deficit 25 seconds into the third with a one-timer from the left point. But Cole scored his 35th on a partial breakaway less than four minutes later to restore the two-goal advantage and Staubitz sealed the win with an empty-netter for his first point in 61 games this season.
Scrivens stopped 23 shots for the Maple Leafs, who lost seven of their final 10 contests and missed the postseason for the seventh straight campaign.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Cole became the first Canadien to reach the 35-goal plateau since Alex Kovalev accomplished the feat in 2007-08. ... Plekanec recorded a point in six of his final eight contests. ... Phaneuf scored three of his 12 goals this season against Montreal. ... Toronto dropped 22 of its last 29 games. ... Staubitz had not scored a goal since Minnesota's season finale against Dallas on April 10, 2011.
Top Game Performances
| Toronto |
|
Montreal |
|
Dion Phaneuf 1 |
Points |
Max Pacioretty 2 |
|
Dion Phaneuf 1 |
Goals |
Max Pacioretty 1 |
|
Mikhail Grabovski 1 |
Assists |
Max Pacioretty 1 |
|
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
Tomas Plekanec 1 |
|
Ben Scrivens .885 |
Save Percentage |
Peter Budaj .968 |
|
Ben Scrivens 23 |
Saves |
Peter Budaj 30 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| Toronto
|
31 |
1 |
0-5 |
3-3 |
8 |
30 |
| Montreal
|
27 |
4 |
0-3 |
5-5 |
12 |
18 |
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