The Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens got their rivalry started early during the Prospect Showcase on Saturday, with Toronto winning 4-3 in a shootout.
Both teams got the fireworks started early as Florian Xhekaj and Chas Sharpe decided to get into a fight just over two minutes into the game.
Shortly after that, Toronto got on the board first after Braeden Kressler wired a wrist shot past Samuel Richard:
After Montreal tied things up shortly after, Toronto found themselves on the powerplay after Noah Chadwick took a nasty crosscheck into the crossbar. Toronto’s top two prospects Easton Cowan and Fraser Minten worked together to give the Maple Leafs the lead after Minten buried a five-hole shot after an assist from Cowan and Topi Niemala; not long after, Cowan decided to get in on the fun and let go an absolute howitzer to increase the lead to 3-1.
Montreal was relentless though, and were able to bring things back to even after goals by Tyler Thorpe and Owen Beck push the game into extras. Toronto ended the game after it went to a shootout after goals from, you guessed it, Fraser Minten and Easton Cowan to seal the deal.