Matthews help Toronto Maple Leafs get past Montreal Canadians on Wednesday

Auston Matthews scored his second goal of the game 1:01 into overtime and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the visiting Montreal Canadians 3-2 in the season-opening game for both teams Wednesday night.

Matthews scored on a shot from the slot that was up and under the bar after he took a precise pass from Patrick Marleau.

John Tavares also scored in his Toronto debut, with Nazem Kadri earning two assists.

Artturi Lehkonen and Andrew Shaw scored for Montreal, and Max Domi added two assists.

Carey Price made 23 saves for the Canadiens.

Toronto goaltender Frederik Andersen stopped 34 shots.

The Canadiens dictated the early pace of the game and had a 6-1 advantage in shots on goal nearing the midway mark of the first period.

Lehkonen gave the Habs a 1-0 lead at 9:34 of the first period on a wrap-around effort.

The Maple Leafs took advantage of the first power play of the game to tie the score at 1. Matthews snapped home a shot off the right post and in from the left playoff circle at 12:57 of the first, five seconds before Jonathan Drouin's hooking penalty expired.

Shots on goal were 9-9 after the first period.

The Canadiens were able to kill off Lehkonen's tripping penalty early in the second because Price stopped Marleau's dangerous wrist shot.

Domi was penalized for tripping at 7:44 of the second, but the Maple Leafs were called for too many men on the ice at 8:47 to negate the advantage.

The teams exchanged goals late in the second period, which ended 2-2.

Tavares, signed to a seven-year, $77 million contract this offseason after nine seasons with the New York Islanders, scored at 18:07 on a snapshot from the high slot, but Shaw tied it with a slapper at 19:46 with Zach Hyman serving a holding penalty.

Montreal, which led 21-18 in shots on goal after two periods, opened the third on an unsuccessful power play after Toronto's Igor Ozhiganov took a hooking penalty at 19:57 of the second.

The Habs maintained pressure but could not score on Ron Hainsey's interference penalty, assessed at 6:00.

Montreal had 36 shots on goal to Toronto's 25 after three periods.

(With inputs from agencies.)