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Mitch Marner was the overtime hero for the Maple Leafs on Saturday night.
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Marner scored at 36 seconds of the extra period against the Montreal Canadiens, giving the Leafs a 1-0 win at Scotiabank Arena.
Just before Marner scored with a low shot on Jakub Dobes, Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz stopped Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki, who burst through the defence and deked to his forehand.
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The Leafs are 10–0-0 in their past 10 home games against Montreal, their longest active home winning streak against any team.
Stolarz made 15 saves for the shutout.
The win enabled the Leafs to clinch home ice in at least the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. They have 102 points, four up on both the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers.
The Leafs, who play in Carolina against the Hurricanes on Sunday night, and Tampa have three games remaining. Florida has two games left.
With the Leafs using just five defencemen because of injuries to Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Jake McCabe, Marner took a few shifts on defence. Marner was paired with Brandon Carlo for those shifts and was on the blue line for offensive-zone draws.
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The Canadiens’ 15 shots on goal were the fewest allowed by the Leafs in a game in 2024-25. The previous low was 18 against Vancouver on Jan. 11.
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The Leafs peppered Dobes during a couple of power plays in the third but had nothing to show for them. Marner skated away in disbelief at one point after he was looking at an open net but couldn’t get everything on his shot and missed.
Max Domi came to the defence of John Tavares in the second period after Tavares was levelled with an open-ice hit by Canadiens defenceman Kaiden Guhle. Domi scored a decision over Guhle in a fight, but was assessed an extra minor for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The Leafs went to work on a power play midway through the second, firing six shots on Dobes, but could not score. The best chance might have been by Marner, who had an open look in the slot but fired the puck over the net.
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The Leafs outshot the Canadiens 21-7 through two periods as they gave the visitors next-to-nothing at five on five. Montreal had just five shots on goal at five on five through 40 minutes.
Stolarz had to be sharp on a couple of occasions, though. A right pad save on Suzuki early in the second stood out.
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