Maple Leafs 3 Canadiens 0
MONTREAL — Toronto goaltender Jonas Gustavsson had to be taken to hospital after the first period with a heart issue, but Joey MacDonald stepped in and made 18 saves to complete the Maple Leafs’ first shutout of the season Tuesday in a 3-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
Gustavsson was pulled from the game after stopping all eight shots he faced in the first and taken to hospital with an elevated heart rate.
He had a similar problem in the pre-season and had an ablation, a common medical procedure among athletes. The Leafs say he was taken to hospital as a precaution.
Colton Orr, Jeff Finger and Matt Stajan scored for the Leafs (7-12-7), who have earned 10 of a possible 14 points over their last seven games (4-1-2).
Phil Kessel added two assists for Toronto, giving him four points in his last three games.
Carey Price made 28 saves in his ninth straight start in goal for the Canadiens (12-13-2), who generated very little offensively in spite of the return from injury of centre Scott Gomez and winger Matt D’Agostini.
But when Montreal did manage to generate some pressure, MacDonald was there to foil them to earn his first win of the season.
The Canadiens are winless in three games (0-2-1) and have scored only four goals over that span.
The Leafs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first on goals from two very unlikely sources.
Orr opened the scoring at 9:24 with his first since Dec 10, 2008. Tomas Kaberle entered the Habs zone and moved toward the back of the net before throwing a slow dribbler in front which found a streaking Orr.
Finger, playing his first game after missing four with a lower body injury, made it 2-0 at 12:51 when his harmless looking shot from the side boards fooled Price.
Stajan extended the Leafs lead to 3-0 at 6:53 of the third when he got behind Habs defenceman Jaroslav Spacek, took a pass from Kessel and went in alone on Price. Stajan got his eighth of the year with a perfect shot to the top corner of Price’s glove side.
Notes: It was champions night at the Bell Centre, as the Grey Cup-winning Montreal Alouettes received an extended standing ovation prior to the game as they were presented on the ice. Later, IBF super middleweight boxing champ Lucian Bute, who defended his belt Saturday night, addressed the crowd during a TV time outaThe Canadiens lost D Jay Leach on waivers to the San Jose Sharks earlier TuesdayaD Garnet Exelby and C Rickard Wallin were scratched for Toronto, while D Carl Gunnarson did not play after getting injured Monday night in a 3-0 loss to BuffaloaEnforcer Georges Laraque served the fourth of a five-game suspension for the Habsa