An injury-riddled Montreal Canadiens squad faced off against a familiar foe in the playoff-bound Toronto Maple Leafs, and an old friend in Tomas Plekanec. Brendan Gallagher and some other members of the Canadiens paid homage to the veteran centre by wearing turtlenecks as the two teams took the ice for the warm-up.
Both teams seemed evenly matched in the opening half of the first period. Strong defensive play on both ends of the ice limited scoring chances, while Charlie Lindgren and Curtis McElhinney turned away all of the few shots they faced during that span.