MONTREAL – Oliver Kapanen scored his twentieth of the season because the Montreal Canadiens held on for a 3-1 win and handed the Toronto Maple Leafs their eighth consecutive loss on Tuesday evening.
Phillip Danault additionally scored, whereas Jake Evans added an empty-net objective for Montreal (35-18-10). Jakub Dobes made 17 saves.
William Nylander replied for struggling Toronto (27-27-11), which is on monitor to overlook the playoffs after 9 consecutive journeys to the post-season.
Joseph Woll stopped 30 photographs in a stable outing.
The Maple Leafs fell 13 factors exterior the playoffs and 15 behind the Canadiens, who jumped to 3rd within the Atlantic Division.
Kapanen opened the scoring 4:46 into the primary interval, ending a slick passing play with Ivan Demidov and Alex Newhook with a deke from the objective line. Demidov held off two Maple Leafs within the nook earlier than sending the puck to Newhook, who fed Kapanen down low.
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Danault then capitalized on a fortuitous bounce to place the Canadiens up 2-0 at 14:41 as Kaiden Guhle’s dump-in ricocheted off the glass and rolled in entrance of the Maple Leafs’ web, gifting the veteran centre his fifth of the season.
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Nylander buried his twenty second from a give-and-go with Easton Cowan, placing Toronto on the board at 14:33 within the second after Dobes’ flurry of saves stored it a two-goal sport with the Leafs urgent.
TAKEAWAYS
Canadiens: Apart from two shifts on the facility play, Cole Caufield sat on the finish of the Canadiens’ bench from late within the second interval via the top of the sport. Montreal’s main objective scorer gave the impression to be in some discomfort, with trainers often checking in. The Canadiens mentioned Caufield was sick after the sport.
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Maple Leafs: The Canadiens dominated play early, toying with the Leafs within the offensive zone to steer the sport 2-0 — and the shot rely 15-8 — after 20 minutes. Toronto pushed again within the second interval with Nylander slicing into the lead after Montreal missed a number of alternatives to pile on, however Montreal held on within the third.
KEY MOMENT
Late within the first interval, veteran Canadiens winger Brendan Gallagher, after he interfered with Cowan, fought Leafs defenceman Jake McCabe because the constructing erupted.
KEY STAT
Toronto captain Auston Matthews — a former 69-goal scorer — prolonged his goalless streak to 12 video games.
UP NEXT
Maple Leafs: Host the Anaheim Geese on Thursday.
Canadiens: Go to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed March 10, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press