TORONTO 4 MONTREAL 0

TORONTO — Minus their starting goalie, best player and two other regulars, the Toronto Maple Leafs did what they’ve done a lot lately — win at Air Canada Centre.

Curtis McElhinney made 33 saves for his third shutout of the season and rookie winger Andreas Johnsson scored his first NHL goal as the Leafs thumped the lowly Montreal Canadiens 4-0 to extend their club-record home winning streak to 12 straight games on Saturday.

Star centre Auston Matthews missed his ninth consecutive outing with a shoulder injury, and netminder Frederik Andersen was sidelined for a second game in a row, but it didn’t matter as Toronto once again showed its organizational depth.

“That’s what you need,” Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said. “You need all your hands on deck.”

William Nylander, Kasperi Kapanen and Nazem Kadri provided the rest of the offence for Toronto (43-22-7), which has four straight victories following a four-game slide (0-2-2). The Leafs’ run at home is the longest in the NHL this season, surpassing Pittsburgh’s 11 straight wins from Jan. 7 to Feb 17.

Veteran winger Leo Komarov (lower body) also didn’t suit up for the Leafs following Thursday’s collision with Nylander in Buffalo, while defenceman Nikita Zaitsev sat out a fourth straight game with illness. All the absences didn’t matter against an opponent playing out the string.

“It’s just guys stepping up and coming in the lineup and really contributing,” Kadri said when asked how his team keeps humming along. “That’s been a strength for us all year. We’ve got key guys out — we’ll look for other guys to step up.”