NHL: Mitchell Marner, Maple Leafs crush Canadiens

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Mitchell Marner had two goals and an assist and the Toronto Maple Leafs routed the visiting Montreal Canadiens 7-1 on Saturday night.

With three points, Marner reached a career-best 98 points for the season.

John Tavares added two goals, Auston Matthews had a goal and three assists, Michael Bunting had a goal and an assist and William Nylander scored once for the Maple Leafs (47-21-11, 105 points).

Ryan O’Reilly and Erik Gustafsson each had three assists in the final home game of the regular season for Toronto.

Ilya Samsonov made 20 saves for the Maple Leafs, who clinched second place in the Atlantic Division on Thursday.

Johnathan Kovacevic scored for Montreal.

Sam Montembeault stopped 39 shots for the Canadiens (31-43-6, 68 points).

Marner worked a give-and-go with Matthews during a power play to open the scoring at 9:08 of the first period. Justin Barron was off for high-sticking.

Tavares scored on a pass from Marner during a power play at 15:16 of the first. Chris Wideman was off for tripping.

Toronto led 18-1 in shots on goal after one period.

Kovacevic scored his third goal of the season on a 55-foot shot through traffic at 2:28 of the second period. Mike Matheson controlled the puck in the Toronto zone to set up the goal.

Nylander scored his 38th goal at 3:56 of the second on a tip-in of O’Reilly’s pass. Marner scored his 30th goal 56 seconds later on a rebound after Michael Bunting’s shot hit the post.

Toronto had a 34-15 advantage in shots on goal after two periods.

Tavares scored his 35th goal of the season on a power play at 6:01 of the third period. Rafael Harvey-Pinard was off for tripping. Montreal’s challenge of goaltender interference was denied.

Matthews scored his 39th goal at 13:51 of the third. Bunting scored his 23rd at 16:50 of the final period.

The Maple Leafs signed University of Toronto goaltender Jett Alexander to an amateur tryout contract so that he could back up Samsonov on Saturday. Alexander played the final minute.

Morgan Rielly, TJ Brodie and Calle Jarnkrok were among the Toronto’s scratches. Goaltender Joseph Woll was back with the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.

–Field Level Media

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