Rds En Direct: Lucky Bounce Hands Danault a Two-Goal Edge at Bell Centre
rds en direct — The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Centre Bell with the initial faceoff set for 7: 00 PM ET, and Montreal built a two-goal lead in the opening period. Oliver Kapanen finished a play set up by Ivan Demidov and Alex Newhook to open the scoring, a milestone that put Kapanen at 20 goals in his first NHL season. Late in the first, a Kaiden Guhle clearing took an odd bounce to the crease and Phillip Danault finished under the arm of Joseph Woll to double the Canadiens’ advantage.
Rds En Direct: First-period momentum and milestones
Montreal struck early when the newly formed second line of Ivan Demidov, Alex Newhook and Oliver Kapanen combined for a goal in the fifth minute. Kapanen’s marker brought him to 20 goals, marking the first Canadiens rookie to reach that total since Cole Caufield in 2021–22. Jakub Dobes, starting in net for a second straight game, made a key pad stop on Dakota Joshua before the Danault goal extended the lead.
Defenseman Lane Hutson picked up an assist on the play in front of the net, recording the 116th helper of his career in his 147th NHL game — the most assists for a defenseman in his first 150 NHL contests, surpassing the previous shared mark with Sergei Zubov.
Immediate reactions
“Jakub Dobes will be in net, ” said Martin St-Louis, head coach, Canadiens de Montréal, confirming the starters for the matchup. “The group created chances early and we took advantage of a bounce and our opportunities. “
“We caught a lucky break on the clearing and capitalized, ” said Phillip Danault, forward, Canadiens de Montréal, describing the play that doubled Montreal’s lead.
Quick context
The Canadiens returned from a three-game trip in California and this meeting is the last matchup between the two Original Six franchises this season. The game at the Centre Bell is the 776th meeting in the long rivalry.
What’s next
With the game underway and the puck drop at 7: 00 PM ET, attention will turn to whether Montreal can sustain early pressure and how Toronto responds to its ongoing struggles. Rds en direct coverage will follow the remainder of the contest and the postgame reactions as coaches and players assess goaltending, defensive structure and line combinations moving forward.
