Tavares breaks tie in 3rd, Maple Leafs edge Canadiens

MONTREAL -- John Tavares scored the go-ahead goal with 6:46 remaining in the third period for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 3-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Saturday.

Tavares pushed the puck over the line from the left edge of the crease after battling for position with Tanner Pearson.

“They came out with a lot of jump, a lot of energy,” Tavares said. “They got the start they wanted, certainly not what we wanted, but I liked how we just stayed with it. You know, offensively, it hasn’t been the greatest week for us. Things haven’t been clicking as well as we’d like, but I just like the way we stayed with it and found a way to earn the opportunities that we got and made the most of them.”

Max Domi had a goal and an assist, and Bobby McMann scored for the Maple Leafs (37-19-8), who have won four of their past six. Ilya Samsonov made 29 saves.

“First of all, a lot of credit to the Habs,” Domi said. “They came out flying and I don’t think we were at the best of our game early on, but we found a way to stick with it. [Samsonov] was great, the PK was great tonight and we capitalized on our chances tonight. A lot of resilience tonight, showed a lot of character, it was a huge win.”

Mike Matheson had a goal and an assist, Alex Newhook scored and Juraj Slafkovsky had two assists for the Canadiens (24-30-10), who have lost four of their past five (1-2-2). Sam Montembeault made 24 saves.

“They’re a great team over there with a lot of superstar power and I thought we were solid against it all night long,” Matheson said. “There’s two sides to it where obviously we played a great game, and then the competitor in me is still frustrated to play that well against a team like that and not come away with a win.”

Matheson gave Montreal a 1-0 lead 36 seconds into the first period. He cut across the crease, took a return pass from Cole Caufield and tucked a backhand around Samsonov.

McMann tied it 1-1 just 39 seconds into the second period, shooting past Montembeault’s blocker from the right side on a 2-on-1.

“I just thought [McMann] played an outstanding game with lots of confidence,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “He was just strong, hard on the puck, lots of urgency to his game. I thought their team had a hard time handling him, so it was a really good showing for him.”

Domi put the Maple Leafs ahead 2-1 at 18:41 when he flipped a shot in under Montembeault’s left arm after catching up with a long pass by Calle Jarnkrok from the defensive zone.

“That’s like a (former NFL quarterback) Tom Brady pass by ‘Jarny,’” Domi said. “It might have been a Randy Moss kind of thing, but I just took off. He’s such a smart player and I had a step on the D and got a little lucky.”

Newhook tied it 2-2 at 5:05 of the third on the power play, taking Slafkovsky’s pass from the right boards and scoring on a wrist shot from the right face-off circle.

“We came back from a long road trip, we wanted to use that Saturday night energy at the Bell Centre, and I think the guys worked hard,” Montembeault said. “It’s unfortunate that bounce at the end on the third goal, even their two other goals, it was just a bounce in the neutral zone. I think we played really well in their zone tonight. We didn’t give them much and I’m really happy with the effort of the guys tonight.”

NOTES: Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner did not play because of a lower-body injury that will be further assessed in Toronto. … Defenseman Joel Edmundson and forward Connor Dewar each made their Maple Leafs debut. Edmundson, who was acquired in a trade with the Washington Capitals on Thursday, had one shot on goal in 19:03 of ice time. Dewar, acquired in a trade with the Minnesota Wild on Friday, played 11:13. … McMann has scored eight goals in his past 14 games. Only Tavares (12 goals) and William Nylander (nine) have scored more over that span for Toronto. … Slafkovsky, who turns 20 on March 30, has 43 points (17 goals, 26 assists) in 103 NHL games. He passed Jesperi Kotkaniemi for the fourth-most points by a teenager in Canadiens history behind Mario Tremblay (66 points), Alex Galchenyuk (50), and Petr Svoboda (45).