March 3rd, 1983
Montreal Canadiens (43-24-4) at Toronto Maple Leafs (29-39-3)
Montreal goes to the Air Canada Centre in Toronto to face the fledgling Maple Leafs. Montreal comes into the game in 3rd in the Atlantic, 2 points behind the Sabres for 2nd and 2 points ahead of the Bruins for 4th.
Montreal will likely not resign LD
Clint Arrington to an extension with the prominence of some of the young defenseman on the horizon. The 33 year old Arrington is in his last year of a deal that pays him $6.1 M per season. Montreal has had him in the press box a few times this season, he has played in 52 games had 5 goals and 13 points this season. Arrington had not missed a game in the past 2 seasons. In 216 career games, he has 20 goals, 63 points, 84 PIMs and a +17 rating.
Toronto find themselves 14th in the Eastern Conference with 61 points, 23 points out of a playoff spot with 11 games left. The Leafs are on the bottom half of all the stat categories, at best they are ranked 16th in the NHL by giving up 30 shots per game. The Leafs PK is ranked 29th with a 79.8 % success rate.
Montreal will start G
Mike Blackshear, he has 35 wins in 58 games with a .902 save %. The Leafs start G
Erik Pecinka, he has 23 wins in 55 games and a .905 save %.
Montreal gets a 1-0 lead at 14:02 of the 1st period when C
Chris Hughes gets his 27th goal of the season while on a 4 on 4 situation. The period ends with Montreal out shooting Toronto 17 to 9.
Montreal goes up 2-0 when C
Chris Hughes gets his 2nd of the night at 9:52 of the 2nd period. Montreal adds to its lead when LW
Tom Gaskell gets his 6th of the year at 16:11 to make it 3-0. Thats how the period ends with Montreal out shooting Toronto 18 to 3 in the 2nd.
Montreal goes up 4-0 at 7:33 of the 3rd period when RW
John Herrod gets his 23rd of the year. Montreal gets another and turns this into a rout as LW
Lorenzo Bocci gets his 30th goal of the year at 8:11. Its the 1st time Bocci has reached 30 goals with his previous high being 26 in the 80-81 season. Montreal goes up 6-0 when LW
Batsaikhany Vanoosten gets his 8th of the year at 9:41 of the 3rd. The Canadiens continue to fill the Leaf net, LW
Jiri Bohm gets his 8th of the year at 17:00 of the 3rd to make it 7-0. That is it for G
Pecinka. Montreal closes it out by out shooting the Leafs 13 to 9 in the 3rd. Montreal was 0 for 4 on the PP while Toronto was 0 for 2.
Montreal's RW
John Herrod was the 1st star with a goal and 3 assists. The 23 year old now has 23 goals and 69 points in 73 games this year. In 237 career NHL games, he has 53 goals, 188 points, 139 PIMs and a +7 rating.
Montreal 7 Toronto 0
| PER | TEAM | GOAL | # | ASSIST | ASSIST |
| 1st | MTL | Chris Hughes | 28 | John Herrod | Marc-Andre Berube |
| 2nd | MTL | Chris Hughes | 29 | John Herrod |
|
| 2nd | MTL | Tom Gaskell | 6 | Yegor Berestnev | Jim Rutgers |
| 3rd | MTL | John Herrod | 23 | Chris Hughes | Lorenzo Bocci |
| 3rd | MTL | Lorenzo Bocci | 30 | John Herrod | Clint Arrington |
| 3rd | MTL | Batsaikhany Vanoosten | 8 | Andrew Rickford | Ronnie Marvin |
| 3rd | MTL | Jiri Bohm | 8 | Batsaikhany Vanoosten | Ashton Miller |
| TEAM | GOALIE | SA | GA |
| MTL | Mike Blackshear | 21 | 0 |
| TOR | Erik Pecinka | 48 | 7 |
| TOR | Cole Sexsmith | 0 | 0 |
Around the league...........
Carolina Hurricanes LD
Ken Vecchione had a goal and an assist in a 6-3 win over the Stars. The 27 year old Vecchione now has 13 goals and 48 points in 73 games. In 237 career NHL games, all with Carolina he has 33 goals, 131 points, 308 PIMs and a -6 rating.
Minnesota Wild C
Vincent Pflister had a goal in a 4-3 win over the Jets. The 21 year old Pfister now has 17 goals and 64 points in 69 games. The 1983 All-Star has played in 151 career NHL games over 2 seasons with the Wild, he has 31 goals, 110 points, 92 PIMs and a-1 rating in 151 games. Pfister was the Wild's 35th overall pick in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft.