Maple Leafs rally from 2 down, top Canadiens in OT in opener

Lightning unveils banner, then routs Blackhawks, 5-1

Morgan Rielly scored at 3:24 of overtime to give the host Toronto Maple Leafs a 5-4 win over the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday night as the NHL kicked off its 2021 season.

Rielly took a feed from Toronto captain John Tavares on a 2-on-1 to beat Montreal goalie Carey Price and end a chaotic extra period where both teams had chances to get the victory.

William Nylander had two goals and an assist for Toronto, while Tavares added a goal and two assists. Jimmy Vesey chipped in with his first goal for the Maple Leafs, and Frederik Andersen had 28 saves.

Josh Anderson scored twice in his debut for Montreal, while Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist, and Tomas Tatar also scored. Jonathan Drouin and Jeff Petry each added two assists inside an empty Scotiabank Arena because of COVID19 restrictions.

Price finished with 29 saves in the first of 10 meetings between the clubs in 2021.

After the Maple Leafs erased a two-goal deficit late in the second period, Anderson got his second of the night 1:03 into the third by cutting around Tavares and firing a shot that beat Andersen under his right arm to make it 4-3.

The Toronto goalie then denied Anderson his first-career hat trick on the doorstep a few minutes later after Suzuki stepped past Rielly.

One of the Maple Leafs’ lesser-known offseason additions, Vesey took advantage of a fortuitous bounce with 10:33 left in regulation when Drouin’s clearing attempt hit one of the referees in the corner. Nylander jumped on the loose puck and quickly fed Vesey, who beat a surprised Price.

Other game

Lightning 5, Blackhawks 1: Tampa Bay unveiled its Stanley Cup banner and then blitzed Chicago with a three-goal first period and scored the first five goals of the game to win its opener at home.

Notes

The Florida Panthers got goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky back Wednesday, the twotime Vezina Trophy winner joining the club on the ice for the first time since training camp started. Bobrovsky had been on the team’s “unfit to play” list since camp began Jan. 3. That term covers anyone who didn’t participate in camp for any reason, whether it was injury or something related to COVID-19. The Panthers don’t open the season until Sunday against Chicago because their two-game set with Dallas was postponed because the Stars were dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak.