For the second time this season, the Montreal Canadiens visited the Toronto Maple Leafs, but this time the Habs wore their Hometown Remix jersey, and they were without Josh Anderson (out for personal reasons). Owen Beck deservedly moved up in the lineup to replace the alternate captain, and Jacob Fowler returned to net, facing Toronto for the first time in his career. Meanwhile, the Leafs went back to Sergei Bobrovsky, who had three losses in his last three starts.

Beck slotted right along Jake Evans and Chris Kreider, taking over from Anderson while Alex Newhook remained on the fourth line with Kirby Dach and Oliver Kapanen. Toronto was getting John Tavares back after the center had missed nine games with a lower-body injury, and with Kirill Marchenko also injured, his comeback was more than welcome for the hosts.

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Fourth Line Rolling

Newhook might have been demoted to the fourth line on Nick Suzuki’s return, but this fourth line doesn’t play like a fourth line. The Newfoundlander scored two goals in the first frame, allowing the Habs to go back to the room with the lead after 20 minutes, and Montreal never surrendered the lead.

As for Dach, he played with a lot of energy, and in a third-frame scrum, he helped Arber Xhekaj when he was surrounded by three Leafs. On that play, Xhekaj got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for face-washing Teddy Blueger, who had taken a few shots at a tied-up Dach. The Canadiens’ defenseman was the only player sent to the box on that sequence, which even puzzled Leafs fans. After the game, Martin St-Louis said:

I feel bad for Jacko; I don’t think that was a penalty.

As for Kapanen, he had an assist on the night, but he also won the four faceoffs he took. As Dach rightfully pointed out after the game, all three players on that line have played center over their careers, and it certainly helps them play on the defensive side of the puck.

Absolutely insane that they're only taking Xhekaj out of this. Ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/VbWnIxL7Ye

— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) November 8, 2026

The Longest Shift Ever

One of the key moments of the game tonight came in the second period, when the Leafs pinned the Canadiens down in their own zone for over two minutes. Phillip Danault, Zachary Bolduc, Alexandre Texier, Alexandre Carrier and Kaiden Guhle were all on the ice for 2:17 or more on that sequence. Normally, when a shift lasts that long, it ends in one of two ways: with a penalty or with a goal. Full marks to those five players for keeping it clean and not falling in the trap.

They finally got off the ice after Fowler made a save with the butt of his stick, which deflected off the crossbar and out of play. Some may say that was a stroke of luck, but as they say, you’ve got to be lucky to be good and good to be lucky.

Fantastic Fowler

If some were worried about Fowler being shaken up after the 5-4 OT loss on Tuesday night, he quickly put their minds at ease. In the first frame, he made a tremendous save on Auston Matthews, who was all alone in front of the net, and he even made it look easy. Once again tonight, the young netminder looked “Pricessque” out there; he’s calm, he’s collected, and he seems to embrace the pressure. He stopped 26 of the 28 shots he faced, and when your netminder plays that well and is that calm, it certainly gives you some confidence.

Jacob Fowler with the great blocker save in the 1st period pic.twitter.com/YkpWPU8T7O

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) November 8, 2026

In the post-game scrum, it was mentioned to St-Louis that when the Canadiens were up 3-2 in the third, and there was a TV timeout, Fowler was at the bench telling his teammates they were fine and there was no need to worry. That’s a 21-year-old. It’s rare to see such a young player take it upon himself to do that. It says a lot about how confident he is and how much of a leader he is.

Stopping The Bleeding

The Leafs got a power-play goal to come back into the game off a William Nylander one-timer, and less than a minute later, Gavin McKenna scored a second goal on a rebound. At that point, most people wondered if the Leafs were about to do what the Winnipeg Jets did to the Habs on Tuesday night, but they didn’t. Not only did the Canadiens stop the bleeding, but they also cauterized the wound, scoring a power-play goal five minutes later through Zachary Bolduc and ending the game with a big double-minor penalty kill on a Juraj Slafkovsky high-stick. The Canadiens have eight power-play goals this season, and three of them are Bolduc’s.

BOLDUC BLAST ???? pic.twitter.com/MmXDscwNMC

— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) November 8, 2026

In that sequence, two of the four penalty killers broke their sticks, including Kaiden Guhle (the new Mike Matheson, broken-stick-wise), but they still came out unscathed. That’s two wins in Toronto so far this season and two big points, which tie them with the Boston Bruins atop the Atlantic Division at 25. The Hometown Remix jerseys are not cursed, and the Habs can protect a lead.

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