Canadiens Beat Leafs 4-2: Newhook Scores Twice, Rookie Fowler Steals the Show as Montreal's Point Streak Hits 10

Photo: Scotiabank Arena on a game night, March 20, 2026, by Adam Bishop, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). File photo of the arena, not from Saturday's game.

Saturday night in Toronto had the feel of a game the Canadiens were supposed to lose. The Leafs were at home, the building was loud, and Montreal was coming off one of the worst collapses in NHL history. Then Alex Newhook scored twice in the first period, Jacob Fowler stood tall when it mattered, and the Habs walked out of Scotiabank Arena with a 4-2 win, their point streak now at 10 games.

Montreal is 11-3-3, 8-0-2 over that stretch, and according to NHL.com it is the first 10-game point streak of the season anywhere in the league — and the first for the Canadiens since the fall of 2016. Toronto fell to 8-8-2, losers of four of its past five.

Two goals, two lucky bounces, one nightmare period for McKenna

Newhook opened the scoring at 5:56 of the first, and the goal told the story of Toronto's night. After a giveaway by rookie Gavin McKenna, Newhook sent a pass across the low slot that ricocheted off Leafs defenceman Jake McCabe's skate, off goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky's skate, and into the net.

Seven minutes later Newhook struck again — deflecting a Kaiden Guhle point shot between Bobrovsky's pads at 13:06. Two goals, 2-0, and the Leafs were chasing the game before it had really started.

McKenna tried a cross-ice pass at Montreal's blue line, Chris Kreider read it, picked it off, and buried a breakaway at 12:57 for a 3-0 lead. For McKenna, the No. 1 pick of the 2026 NHL Draft, two of his turnovers had turned directly into Montreal goals. Coach Jim Hiller stapled him to the bench for the rest of the period.

The rookie goalie who would not rattle

Toronto scored twice in 55 seconds early in the third — William Nylander on the power play at 6:19, then McKenna himself chipping one home from the low slot at 7:14. Suddenly it was 3-2, the building was alive, and the Canadiens were wobbling.

That is when Fowler, a 21-year-old rookie, did something veterans twice his age struggle to do. During a TV timeout at 8:08, he skated to the bench and spoke up. He told his teammates they were fine. He was perfect the rest of the game.

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"It's easy to kind of get in your own head a little bit there in moments like that, but we've got leaders on this team who stepped up and just said, 'We're fine,'" Newhook said. "It was good to see. He's got a good presence back there. He's got a calming presence for sure."

Fowler finished with 26 saves and improved to 8-1-1, including 8-0-1 in his past nine games. Per NHL.com, the last rookie goaltender aged 21 or younger with a nine-game point streak was Braden Holtby of the Washington Capitals in 2010-11. His numbers — a 2.15 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage, per Sportsnet — look like a veteran's.

Four nights earlier, he was in goal when the Canadiens blew a 4-0 lead in the final 2:39 of regulation and lost 5-4 in overtime to the Winnipeg Jets — the latest four-goal comeback in NHL history. He made 36 saves that night and still lost. His response was to go into Toronto on a Saturday night and beat the Leafs.

Bolduc settles it, and the streak rolls on

Zachary Bolduc provided the insurance, blasting a one-timer past Bobrovsky on the power play at 12:15 of the third to make it 4-2. The Canadiens then killed off the final 3:33 — including the last 2:24 with Bobrovsky pulled — after Juraj Slafkovsky took a double minor for high-sticking Jack Roslovic.

Nylander's goal tied John Tavares for fifth on the Maple Leafs' all-time list for power-play goals, with 85. Tavares returned after missing nine games with a lower-body injury, playing on the wing for the first time since April 2023. The Leafs also lost defenceman Morgan Rielly to a lower-body injury early in the second, and he did not return.

The win made it five straight for Montreal against Toronto — only one longer run against the Leafs in 65 years, 14 games from March 2014 to February 2017, per NHL.com. The Habs now sit tied with the Boston Bruins for the Atlantic Division lead.

For McKenna, the night ended the way it began — with a lesson. Hiller pulled him aside in the second intermission, told him he would get back out there, and the 18-year-old answered with a goal 55 seconds after Nylander's. "He said he was going to get me out there again, which felt good," McKenna said. "And honestly, it fired me up." The Leafs host the New Jersey Devils on Sunday. The Canadiens, riding the best run in the NHL, host the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday at the Bell Centre.