Everybody in the locker room wasn't hiding from it last night, the Montreal Canadiens outworked the Toronto Maple Leafs from the opening faceoff.If it wasn't for special teams and Mitch Marner, the final score would have likely been much different. "I don't think it was a great start for us ... special teams kind of kept us in the game & you don't want to rely on that too often ... I wouldn't say we ever felt like we were at our best today ... no question, we want to get better from this" mentioned John Tavares who was held off the scoresheet.
The team definitely showed that they'll have arguably the best power play in the league this year, however their five on five play was a mess in what could be considered their first real test of the preseason. "I don't think we played too well. They definitely outworked us ... we didn't really have an answer back five-on-five." Auston Matthews said. "We didn't take care of the puck tonight, tried to make fancy plays & they were above us. They played tight ... & they worked hard tonight & we didn't have our best game. Fortunately we were good on special teams."
As expected, head coach Mike Babcock wasn't happy with the performance either. "We have a good skill-set, but if you don't put your work before your skill you won't be happy many nights in the National Hockey League. Their team worked harder than our team & we turned the puck over way too many times." mentioned Babcock.
