Montreal Canadiens explain how they were able to stun Maple Leafs

The Montreal Canadiens pulled off a monumental upset last night, coming back from a 3-1 series deficit against the rival Toronto Maple Leafs and putting the exclamation point in the form of a Game 7 victory on the road, once again tearing the hearts out of Leafs fans everywhere. 

Of course, one of the key factors in the stunning victory was how the Habs were able to neutralize the lethal Auston Matthews, who managed only one goal in seven games after 41 during the regular season, as well as Mitch Marner, who was held scoreless. 

Phillip Danault has had plenty of run-ins with Matthews on the ice during the regular season, and just like then, the defensive forward stuck to Matthews like glue throughout the postseason. 

His efforts were recognized by teammate Brendan Gallagher, who scored the opening goal in the 2nd period of last night's game. 

“I hope everyone realizes how important Phil is and how good of a series he had,” said Gallagher. “I talked about Matthews and Marner and how difficult they are to play against, Phil had that matchup in the series."

Of course, Gallagher also recognized that it was a combination of efforts made by all of his teammates, starting with Carey Price doing his best imitation of a brick wall during Game 7 and throughout the series, as well as the backend of captain Shea Weber, Jeff Petry and Joel Edmundson.

"We’ve got Pricey back there and we’ve got (Jeff Petry, Shea Weber and Joel Edmundson) going up against them, but Phil is equally as big in that. I know he realizes, and I hope everyone else does, just how important he was to us in the series," Gallagher continued.

Thanks to two key turnovers committed by the Maple Leafs in overtime of Games 5 and 6, the Habs were able to force the deciding Game 7 and once again push Toronto onto the brink of heartbreak. However, Gallagher didn't specify any specific "turning points" that the Habs were able to enjoy.

“I don’t know if there was a particular turning point in this series,” he explained. “We just hung on. We came here for Game 5 knowing we had to win a game and we had a great start, and that helps. As soon as we went home, playing in front of the crowd, you could see a little extra jump in us and, coming here tonight. it was almost easier being on the road. We were able to settle our game and it helps when you score the the first goal." 

While the Leafs start to pick up the pieces, the Canadiens are now preparing to battle the Winnipeg Jets.