Maple Leafs win North

In Toronto, the Maple Leafs clinched the North Division with a win over the Montreal Canadiens, on Saturday night.

Jake Allen made 23 saves for a 3-2 win.

“We felt really good about our team offensively but we knew we needed to get better defensively this season,” Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “We were pretty close to the bottom of the League last season and 5-on-5 goals against, and this season we are up in the top five of the League. The team’s commitment to defending, we got good goaltending even though we used four goalies, and the fact we were able to keep the puck out of our net I would say is the biggest reason we were able to be as consistent as we were.”

The Habs have yet to punch their playoff thicket.

“We have to have better starts,” the Canadiens’  Jon Merrill said. “Tonight was a step in the right direction in that department but I think we have to put together a complete game and get a win. That’s when your confidence starts to build. You win a game, string a few together and you start feeling good.”

Brett Kulak and Nick Suzuki were the Montreal strikers; the Habs held a 2-0 lead in the middle frame before the Leafs replied with three unanswered goals in the period.

Pierre Engvall and William Nylander scored for the Maple Leafs.

“We weren’t good at all in the first period and that was disappointing,” Keefe said. “We knew Montreal was going to be a lot better, they had a day off (Friday) so we knew they’d be better than when we saw them Thursday (on the second of back-to-back games). That’s an area where our team grew this season, these types of games didn’t get away on us, we got to work and climbed our way back.”

Mitchell Marner gave Toronto a 3-2 lead late in the second period.

“It’s a good feeling,” Marner said. “It’s something we wanted to try and do at the start of the season and set our goal to. Obviously it’s not the ending goal we want, but it is step two of what we wanted to accomplish. Now we just have to make sure we keep going with the pedal down.”

Jack Campbell made 21 saves in the loss.

“They had a pushback,” the Canadiens’ Eric Staal said. “We knew it was a possibility but I just think they were attacking us a bit better and we didn’t handle the pressure as well. But it was tight both ways. They got a break on a faceoff play there but we would have liked to have a better second and build on the lead that we had.”