UPDATE - Sheldon Keefe said in his media availability that Jack Campbell will go in Game 4, and that Nick Foligno will not play.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs relied on their high-powered offense and providing some pushback against the more physical Montreal Canadiens to even their best-of-seven series last weekend, but in Game 3 of their first round match the Leafs relied on limiting opportunities to preserve a slim one-goal lead in a 2-1 victory at the Bell Centre on Monday.
William Nylander and Morgan Rielly scored goals in a second period dominated by Toronto, in which they outshot the Canadiens 20-8, but in a third period equally one-sided in favor of the Habs, Jack Campbell stood tall for the Leafs, stopping all 15 of the 29 shots he faced to give Toronto the lead in the series.
“Of course, we don't like defending as much as we did, but our guys defended very hard. Guys competed. It was a tough, tough period.” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game. “They're coming at us real hard. I'd like to see us relax and
make a few more plays, so we can settle the game down, but it's a very important game. It's a very important period. I thought our guys battled hard, and of course our goalie was our best player.”
Nylander gave the Leafs the lead just over seven minutes into the middle frame, shooting the puck low through a maze of legs past Montreal’s Carey Price for his club-leading third goal of the playoffs.
“(William is) competing a lot harder. He's really engaged. I think with that offense comes.” Keefe said. “Obviously, a huge goal he scores for us here today, but I think I was most impressed with, in the third period, he battled his ass off along the wall, won a battle, got a puck out for us and ended up creating a 2-on-1.”
Nick Suzuki tied the game six minutes later, but Toronto quickly responded as Rielly beat Price top shelf after a feed from Mitch Marner. Price made the more spectacular of the saves on the night, especially the midair deflection of Jason Spezza’s shot in the first and a stop on Marner in the second, but Campbell was rock solid in his second postseason victory.
Keefe was asked after the game whether Campbell would be in goal for Game 4 on Tuesday, with it being the second of back-to-back games, and said it would depend on how the Leafs goalie felt in the morning and what his energy level was.
Nick Foligno was a late scratch after testing out a lower body injury in the pre-game warmup. Foligno was replaced by Riley Nash, who played 9:31 on the night. Keefe indicated that the veteran forward is day-to-day and will be a game time decision for Game 4.
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