TORONTO – Xavier Ouellet and Artturi Lehkonen each scored twice as the Montreal Canadiens thumped the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1 Monday night in exhibition play at Scotiabank Arena.
Ouellett had his first two goals of the preseason and Lehkonen reached his third in the Montreal win.
Charles Hudon also had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens (4-1-0).
Kasperi Kapanen scored the only goal for Toronto (4-1-0) with 34 seconds into the second period.
Antti Niemi had 29 saves on 30 shots for the Canadiens in a game that mostly showcased AHL players for both squads.
Goaltender Garret Sparks stopped 30 of 35 shots for the Maple Leafs.
Lehkonen opened the scoring at 10:17 of the first period on a rebound from a Kotkaniemi shot, taking advantage of a turnover by Justin Holl in the Leafs zone.
Ouellet scored his first of the preseason to make it 2-0 Montreal at 12:38. Toronto challenged for goaltender interference, claiming Michael Chaput blocked tSparks’ view on the play, but lost the appeal. Lernout and Armia added assists.
The Leafs’ Kapanen took advantage of a four-on-four situation to cut the lead to 2-1 on a shot deflected off of Rinat Valiev’s stick. Marincin got the assist on Kapanen’s first goal of the preseason.
Ouellet brought the Canadiens back to a two-goal advantage on a snap shot from the left side.
Hudon added to the lead with a spin move on Andreas Borgman at 5:54 in the second. Valiev and Niemi.
Lehkonen shot, as Sparks ended up on his back returning from behind the goal post, and made it 5-1, with an assist by Matthew Peca.
The Maple Leafs and Canadiens continue their postseason schedule with a second matchup at Bell Centre, in Montreal, Wednesday night.