Marc Dumont
The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night, a battle of two clubs at the polar opposite of the trend spectrum.
The Habs are a team on a rise, whereas the Leafs are slowly coming to the realization that their past hopes were simply the symptom of sports-related delusions of grandeur.
With that in mind, it was no surprise that the Canadiens beat the Leafs, though the 3-1 scoreline was a little flattering for the road team, as they were outshot 33-18 by Montreal.
Let’s dive into the highlights!
The Future Is Now, Old Man
The Canadiens displayed great speed in transition to start the game, leading to several high-danger scoring chances and sustained shifts in the offensive zone.
This solid play eventually culminated in rookie Oliver Kapanen’s 20th goal of the year, which also netted him a tidy sum of $250,000 for reaching a goal-scoring bonus in his contract.
Oliver Kapanen opens the scoring with his 20th goal of the year.
— Montreal Hockey Now (@MTLhockeynow) March 10, 2026
A beauty, with Demidov and Newhook providing great assists.
1-0 #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/cItuvSvIVs
Tertiary Scoring
Montreal once again capitalized on their excellent start when Phillip Danault scored his fifth goal of the year, a nice individual effort that featured quick hands by the oldest player in the lineup.
It should be noted that the shots in the first period were 18-5 in favour of the Canadiens, a season-high for the home team. The Canadiens were so dominant that the Leafs only enjoyed their second offensive-zone start of the game a few minutes into the second frame.
Phillip Danault se fait plaisir et vient doubler l'avance du Canadien! 🚨🔵⚪🔴 pic.twitter.com/1iiU68de09
— TVA Sports (@TVASports) March 10, 2026
Stemming The Tide
Toronto clearly lacked enthusiasm to start the game, but they increased their effort-level significantly midway through the second period, as evidenced by the play that saw William Nylander cut Montreal’s lead to just one goal.
Cowan and Nylander connect to cut the Habs lead in half 🚨 pic.twitter.com/2cUZlI0DdH
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 11, 2026
Bias? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Bias
With all due respect to the good folks over at Sportsnet, their coverage of Tuesday’s game was insanely tilted towards all things Leafs.
Keep in mind the Canadiens outshot and outchanced Toronto by a very wide margin, and they’re miles ahead of the Leafs in the standings. Toronto’s season is essentially meaningless, with the playoffs out of reach, whereas Montreal is engaged in a hotly contested playoff race. Sportsnet spent more time discussing a handful of shifts from Benoit-Olivier Groulx than anything remotely related to Habs.
Of course, we have to allow for some desperate catering to the Toronto market, but based on the commentary, you’d assume Toronto won the game, handily.
Rather, it was the Canadiens who emerged with the well-deserved 3-1 win, a sign of things to come between the respective franchises.
The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Wednesday, facing the Ottawa Senators. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 pm ET.
All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.
