Nick Ritchie, Maple Leafs offence erupt early to top Canadiens
Kraken close out 1st pre-season with shutout victory over Canucks
Nick Ritchie has already developed some nice chemistry with Mitch Marner.
Ritchie scored his first two goals in blue and white Tuesday as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens 6-2 in exhibition play.
"Felt good, especially getting them right away," said the bruising winger. "Good all around game for us ... we're going in the right direction."
Ritchie signed with the Leafs this summer and was immediately placed on the top line at training camp in the spot Zach Hyman occupied before bolting for the Edmonton Oilers in free agency.
The six-foot-three, 236-pound native of nearby Orangeville, Ont., has worked well with Marner, but the duo's experienced a revolving door at centre as Matthews continues to work his way back from off-season wrist surgery following his 41-goal, 52-game campaign in 2020-21.
Ritchie, however, doubts the trio will take long to mesh once the reigning Maurice (Rocket) Richard Trophy winner closes a three-man circle that could wreak havoc with its complementary size, speed and skill.
"A player of that calibre, I don't think there'll be any trouble stepping in," said the 10th pick at the 2014 NHL draft, who had friends and family in attendance for his first home game with the Leafs. "He's gonna be ready to rock."
Brennan Menell and Brett Seney, with a goal and an each assist, Ilya Mikheyev and Semyon Der-Arguchintsev provided the rest of the offence for Toronto. Marner and John Tavares both added two assists.
WATCH | Seney's snipe sends Leafs past Habs:
Petr Mrazek made 20 saves for the Leafs at Scotiabank Arena, which remains at 50 per cent capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Joel Armia, with a goal and an assist, and Alex Belzile replied for Montreal. Claimed off waivers Saturday from the Florida Panthers, Sam Montembeault made 38 stops in his Canadiens debut.
Toronto, which improved to 4-1-0 in exhibition play, concludes its pre-season calendar Saturday at home against the Ottawa Senators. Montreal (2-3-0), meanwhile, wrap things up Thursday at the Bell Centre versus Ottawa.
The Leafs and Canadiens open their regular seasons Oct. 13 back at Scotiabank Arena.
A native of Becancour, Que., looking to win the job as Jake Allen's backup to begin the season should starter Carey Price (knee surgery) remain sidelined, Montembeault was solid early before being left hung out to dry when Marner found Ritchie alone in front at 8:18 to make it 1-1.
"Mitch is a special player," Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said. "He develops chemistry quite quickly on his own, finds ways to adapt his game. He has pretty strong confidence that Nick's gonna live around the net."
"He's been great," Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly added of Ritchie. "He's a big guy that works hard. He gets to the net, he gets in on the forecheck. He's been extremely valuable. He's getting along great with all the guys and he seems to fit right in."
Ritchie then added his second of the night on a power play 2:22 later when he beat Montembeault after Tavares hit the post moments earlier.
Montreal evened things with 3:28 remaining in the period on a man advantage of its own on Belzile's shot through traffic, but Mikheyev restored Toronto's lead 1:56 after that when he fired through another screen on the Leafs' 19th shot of the period.
Menell scored from the slot to make it 4-2 on another man advantage at 11:09 of the second off a pass from Tavares.
Mrazek sharp
The Canadiens didn't register a shot in the period until there were less than eight minutes left in the period, but Mrazek, who played a full 60 minutes for the first time this pre-season, then had to be sharp on a couple of chances before Der-Arguchintsev scored with 3:08 remaining on the clock.
"Not a lot of action earlier in the game... I just try to focus," said Mrazek, who also signed in free agency. "The first goal went off [Hollowell's] ass.
"We just have to let those things go."
Seney rounded out the scoring at 4:37 of the third after coming out of the penalty box, blowing past Belzile, and roofing a backhand on Montembeault.
Montreal, which trailed Toronto 3-1 in the first round of last spring's playoffs before winning three straight to stun its Original Six rival in seven games, dressed 11 projected regulars Tuesday.
The Leafs, meanwhile, had eight members of their opening night roster in the lineup — but still no Matthews, who has targeted the Oct. 13 curtain-raiser for his return.
Kraken blank Canucks
Vince Dunn scored twice and the Seattle Kraken ended their pre-season with a 4-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.
Ryan Donato and Nathan Bastian also scored, while Calle Jarnkrok and Morgan Geekie each registered a pair of assists in the Kraken's inaugural visit to Rogers Arena.
Thatcher Demko stopped 21-of-24 for the Canucks.
Seattle (4-2-0) iced a lineup full of veteran NHL talent while Vancouver (2-3-0) included a number of players auditioning for roles on the team.
WATCH | Dunn scores twice to lead Kraken victory:
Vancouver kept Grubauer busy, outshooting Seattle 35-28, but the Canucks couldn't get a shot past the former Colorado Avalanche goalie.
The home side's best chance of the night came later in the second frame when rookie Vasily Podkolzin used some deft stick handling to trick Grubauer in tight, then sent a shot wide of the open net.
Tyler Myers had a chance to claw a goal back late in the third when he picked up the puck as he left the penalty box and streaked down the ice on a breakaway, but the Kraken goaltender stopped the ensuing wrist shot.
McCann tied up Jason Dickinson on a breakaway in the second period and the Canucks forward responded by shoving McCann into glass, earning a penalty for boarding.
The Kraken capitalized. Jarnkrok blasted a shot on net and Demko made the stop but couldn't control the rebound. The puck popped out to Donato at the side of the net and he sailed a shot in over leg of the sprawled-out netminder to give Seattle a three-goal lead 14:22 into the second period.
Dunn's second of the night came at full strength following some crisp passes by the Kraken midway through the second.
Schwartz sliced the puck to McCann deep in Canucks' territory and McCann quickly dished it off to Dunn in the slot. The defenceman riffled a wrist shot in past Demko at 6:57 for his third goal of the pre-season.
Seattle snapped a scoreless deadlock earlier in the period with a power-play goal after defenceman Jack Rathbone was called for cross checking Donato.
Using Donato as a screen, Dunn unleashed a slapshot from the blue line, clanking the puck off the cross bar and in at 4:31.
The Canucks will close out the pre-season with a home-and-home series against the Oilers, starting with a trip to Edmonton on Thursday. The Kraken's inaugural regular-season campaign will begin on Oct. 12 when they take on the Golden Knights in Vegas.
