TORONTO (AP) — William Nylander broke a tie at 1:06 of the third period and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the  Montreal Canadiens 2-1 on Wednesday night in the opener for both teams.

Nylander took a pass from Morgan Rielly off the rush before faking a slap shot and high to goalie Jake Allen’s short side.

In a rematch of Montreal’s seven-game victory in the first round of the playoffs last season, Toronto won in front of 18,493 masked and fully vaccinated fans in Scotiabank Arena’s first regular-season crowd since March 10, 2020.

Jack Campbell made 31 saves for Toronto, allowing only Jonathan Drouin’s first-period goal. Pierre Engvall tied it on a power play midway through the second.

Toronto star Auston Matthews, the NHL leader with 41 goals in 52 games last season, sat out because of a wrist injury that hasn’t fully healed from surgery.

Allen made 28 saves.

Canadiens goalie Carey Price entered the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program last week and will be away from the team until at least early November. Captain Shea Weber will miss the season with potentially career-threatening ankle and foot injuries.

NOTES: The Canadiens dressed just 13 of the 20 players who suited up in Game 5 of the club’s Stanley Cup Finals loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in July. … The 48th Highlanders, who have performed at every Toronto curtain-raiser since Maple Leaf Gardens opened in 1931, kept the tradition alive virtually last season, and were back Wednesday with their pipes and drums on the ice prior to warmups.

UP NEXT

Canadiens: At Buffalo on Thursday night.

Maple Leafs: At Ottawa on Thursday night to open home-and-home series.

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