Toronto Maple Leafs' Morgan Rielly (left) celebrates his goal against the Montreal Canadiens with Jake McCabe (22) during third period NHL hockey action in Toronto on Wednesday.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
While much of the Scotiabank Arena crowd was just as focused on the events at Yankee Stadium as they were on the return of the National Hockey League on Wednesday night – with the Jumbotron giving frequent updates of the Toronto Blue Jays score – down on the ice, the Toronto Maple Leafs did just enough to win their 10th straight home opener.
It wasn’t pretty, with the new-look Leafs still with plenty of kinks to work out. However, they did just enough to beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-2, tying the Washington Capitals for the second-longest streak of home-opening victories in league history, just behind the 1953-64 Montreal Canadiens’ 11-game run.
Though some of the Leafs noted it was a unique atmosphere to play in, with the crowd cheering “Let’s go, Blue Jays” as the city’s baseball squad ultimately eliminated the Yankees to reach the American League Championship Series, goaltender Anthony Stolarz took particular pleasure in the proceedings.
“It’s kind of exciting,” he said after playing his first game since being knocked out of the playoffs by Sam Bennett’s elbow last May. “As a Mets fan, kind of happy to see those scores. So good for the Jays.”
Auston Matthews and William Nylander both opened their goal-scoring accounts on the season with empty-net goals – with Nylander notching a team-high three points – while Morgan Rielly scored the game-winner with 10:58 remaining in the game.
The longest-tenured Leaf, entering his 13th season, said afterwards that his team struggled with the puck at times.
“It’s our first game,” he said. “There’s lots of good things. Not trying to say we sucked, but we’re going to look to improve and build our game. We have high expectations for our group, and I think at times, in the middle of the game, we didn’t manage the puck that well, and then obviously in the third, we came up and played well.”
After being entertained by the annual season-opening appearance by the 48th Highlanders band and asked to stand a minute’s silence for late Canadiens goaltender and former Maple Leafs president Ken Dryden, Bobby McMann ensured the crowd was on its feet again within seconds.
Sixty of them to be exact.
The burly winger, who could only fire blanks for the final 24 games of the season through both the regular season and playoffs, ensured his 2025-26 season got off to the best possible start, tipping a Nylander shot through Sam Montembault’s legs for an early edge. It was the sixth-fastest season-opening goal in franchise history, although it was some way short of passing Gus Bodnar, who holds first place in the record book with his 15-second strike in 1943.
Head coach Craig Berube has been trying to get McMann to play more in that area around the crease, looking to get tips and being ready to grab rebounds.
“Yeah, I think if you put yourself in those areas, whether it goes off your stick or whatever part of your body, sometimes when you’re there, it just ends up going in,” McMann said afterwards. “Or you find those pucks around there. If you look at the shot charts and the goal charts around the league all year, and there’s just a ton of dots right at the top of the crease.”
Toronto Maple Leafs centre Bobby McMann (74) shoots the puck as Montreal Canadiens defenceman Lane Hutson (48) tries to defend during the third period at Scotiabank Arena.Nick Turchiaro/Reuters
The goal injected further energy into the building, and the adrenaline only spiked higher when Patrik Laine took a hooking penalty just after the five-minute mark.
However, it had the opposite effect.
With Mitch Marner gone, Rielly is back on the first power-play unit, and as might be expected for the first game of the season, the chemistry isn’t quite functioning to its full potential. An errant pass by Nylander missed both Matthews and winger Matthew Knies, and was seized upon by Oliver Kapanen, who bore down on Stolarz and beat him over the blocker for his first career goal.
The Habs rookie – a cousin of former Leafs winger Kasperi Kapanen – became just the fifth player in Montreal’s 116-year history to score his first career goal shorthanded, and the first since Chris Chelios in 1984.
The night of Canadiens firsts continued into the second period. Stolarz was unable to corral a shot from Brendan Gallagher 90 seconds after the restart, and Zachary Bolduc, making his debut for the team he grew up supporting, had little trouble banging home the rebound.
Just past the five-minute mark of the second period, the score was knotted again. Taking a pass from Steven Lorentz, Rielly fired a shot from the point that hit Arber Xhekaj on the edge of the faceoff circle. Reacting quicker than anyone else, Calle Jarnkrok swivelled and fired the loose puck through Montembault’s five-hole.
With the game hanging in the balance entering the third, it fell to the longest-tenured Maple Leaf to put the home team back in front. Entering his 13th season with the team, Rielly was perfectly positioned when Knies, who had been denied on a breakaway, found him in the slot.
The defenceman buried his wrist shot over Montembault’s shoulder to restore Toronto’s lead with just under 11 minutes to play. Newcomer Maccelli, playing Marner’s old position on the right wing of the first line, registered the secondary assist for his first point with Toronto.
Both teams now head to Detroit, with the Canadiens playing the Red Wings on Thursday, while the Maple Leafs play them Saturday.