For his first goal in a Toronto Maple Leafs sweater, Auston Matthews went big. Like, sniping a wrist shot through Carey Price on Montreal Canadiens’ turf, big.

In a difficult preseason outing for the Maple Leafs on Thursday at Bell Centre, which ended in a 6-1 loss, Matthews’ early goal was among the only bright spots. With Toronto already trailing 2-0 early in the first period, the 19-year-old centre tried to give his team a spark. Corralling a feed from Jake Gardiner, Matthews got separation above the circle and used his wicked release to rifle a puck past Price.

Matthews’ more subdued goal celebration wasn’t exactly on par with the joviality he displayed scoring in the World Cup of Hockey. On this night, there wasn’t much else to be excited about the rest of the way for Toronto.

After a solid preseason debut on Tuesday against the Ottawa Senators, where he stopped 12 of 13 shots, goaltender Frederik Andersen had a rough night in Montreal. He allowed two goals on the first five shots he faced, the second a Michael McCarron wrister from well above the circle that beat Andersen cleanly. The goaltender recovered, making some great saves before the end of the first. But Andersen allowed two more goals in the first five minutes of the second frame, putting Toronto back on its heels.

Andersen didn’t get much help from the players in front of him for most of the night either. With a lineup that was reasonably close to its NHL roster, Toronto played timid for much of the game, which let the Canadiens run wild. Already leading 4-1 entering the third, Alex Galchenyuk and Artuuri Lehkonen scored a pair of goals within five minutes of each other, the latter of which Andersen had a good chance of stopping. Thursday was Andersen's first full contest since being injured in early September.

The Leafs' inability to maintain possession or establish any presence in the Canadiens zone is a departure from how a lineup similar to this one played Tuesday against the Senators in Saskatoon. But it was the lack of overall confidence that was most glaring. Towards the end of the third period some of the Leafs began playing with more abandon, but by then it was too little, too late.

Toronto takes on the Detroit Red Wings on Friday in Hamilton.


Takeaways

- Matthews and Mitch Marner, playing together for the second straight game, have developed a nice chemistry. Babcock said he is likely to put William Nylander back with Matthews for the regular season, leaving Marner to play with a more experienced centerman. Marner had an uneven night overall, and was shown up badly in the third period on Galchenyuk's goal. More experience around him, potentially in the form of Tyler Bozak at centre, will be key for his development.

- Last week Zach Hyman expressed how the physical side of his game is always something he has tried to highlight, and he did that with a monster hit on Shea Weber along the boards in the second period. Hyman led the Leafs in shots on goal with four, and was right behind Nylander (18:11) in time on ice (TOI) (18:00) for forwards. The 24-year-old made an impression on Toronto last season and his willingness to do it all has continued to have an impact on the coaching staff.

- Bruising left winger Matt Martin engaged in his first fight as a Maple Leaf, taking on McCarron in the third period. He led both teams with 15 hits on the night. Martin has had a relatively quiet preseason, but his physicality and strength will be relied upon once the regular season gets going.

- Andrew Shaw and Weber, two new Canadiens, had stellar games in their first experience with this rivalry. Shaw used his great net presence to score twice against the Leafs, outworking Matt Hunwick on the second goal to maintain his position inside. Weber was his usual physical self, schooling Matthews along the boards and upending Leo Komarov in a play at the blue line.