Matthews hat trick helps Maple Leafs to shootout win against Canadiens in opener

William Nylander had a goal and an assist, John Tavares had three assists, and Ilya Samsonov made 19 saves for the Maple Leafs in the season opener for both teams. Mitchell Marner scored the only goal in the shootout.

Alex Newhook scored twice in his Canadiens debut, and Jake Allen made 37 saves.

The Maple Leafs cut it to 5-4 at 15:28 of the third period when Matthews took a pass from Tavares and shot to the short side from the bottom of the right face-off circle.

Matthews then tied it 5-5 at 18:53 when he took a pass from Nylander and shot past an outstretched Allen for goal No. 302.

Newhook, who was acquired from the Colorado Avalanche in a trade June 27, had put the Canadiens up 4-3 at 5:47 of the third when he deflected an Arber Xhekaj shot in the slot for his second goal of the game.

Jesse Ylonen made it 5-3 at 11:55, backhanding a shot past Samsonov’s blocker after he took a pass from Rafael Harvey-Pinard, who intercepted a clearing attempt from Timothy Liljegren.

Matthews tied it 2-2 at 14:51 of the second period on the power play. Marner’s shot ricocheted off Tavares in front of the net and came to Matthews, who shot from the bottom of the right circle. The goal made him the fastest United States-born player to reach 300 goals (482 games), passing Pat LaFontaine (549 games).

Nylander put Toronto up 3-2 at 19:15 of the second period on the power play when he one-timed a shot from John Klingberg at the left face-off dot. Klingberg was making his Maple Leafs debut after signing a one-year, $4.15 million contract as an unrestricted free agent July 1.

Cole Caufield tied it 3-3 on the power play at 4:25 of the third when his shot from the slot deflected off the stick of Maple Leafs defenseman TJ Brodie. Caufield played his first game since Jan. 19 after he had season-ending shoulder surgery on Jan 29.

Toronto outshot Montreal 16-2 in the second period.

Jake Evans put the Canadiens up 1-0 at 3:01 of the first period when he scored on a breakaway after Brodie mishandled the puck and fell at the offensive blue line.

Newhook made it 2-0 at 1:10 of the second, scoring at the side of the crease off a pass from Juraj Slafkovsky. Slafkovsky was playing his first game since Jan. 15, when a lower-body injury ended his rookie season.

Caufield had a goal overturned at 5:50 when Toronto challenged for offside.

The Maple Leafs cut it to 2-1 at 7:46 when Noah Gregor shot past Allen’s glove from the left faceoff dot. It was Gregor’s Toronto debut; he signed a one-year, $775 000 contract after attending training camp on a professional tryout.

Fraser Minten, a second-round pick (No. 38) in the 2022 NHL Draft, made his NHL debut for the Maple Leafs. The forward played 11:32, had one shot on goal and was minus-1.