Maple Leafs 6, Canadiens 0
MONTREAL -- James Reimer made 37 saves for his first shutout in more than a year and Phil Kessel had a goal and two assists to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 6-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
Leo Komarov scored his first NHL goal 59 seconds in for Toronto, which has won three in a row for the first time since last season.
James van Riemsdyk had a goal and an assist, and Tyler Bozak, Korbinian Holzer and Dion Phaneuf also scored for the Maple Leafs.
It was Reimer's seventh career shutout and his first since Feb. 4, 2012, when he stopped 49 shots in a 5-0 win in Ottawa.
Carey Price stopped 21 shots for Montreal, which has lost three in a row, including a 5-4 shootout loss in Buffalo on Thursday night.
There were several fights in the third period, including an uneven matchup between 6-foot-5 Maple Leafs left winger Frazer McLaren and 6-1 Montreal defenseman Josh Gorges at 15:01.
That was precipitated by Toronto's Colton Orr taking a run at Canadiens center Tomas Plekanec, which saw 5-7 Montreal captain Brian Gionta come to his teammate's defense.
Komarov opened the scoring on a setup by Nikolai Kulemin. Bozak made it 2-0 at 6:33 with his fourth goal, assisted by van Riemsdyk.
The Maple Leafs made it a 3-0 lead 3:36 into the second period on van Riemsdyk's team-leading seventh goal. Kessel, who assisted on van Riemsdyk's goal, increased the lead to 4-0 with a power-play goal at 18:01.
Kessel scored for a second straight game after he was held without a goal through his first 11 games. He scored a career-high 37 goals last season and has led the Maple Leafs in goals in each of his first three seasons in Toronto.
Holzer scored his second goal 4:20 into the third period. Kessel got his second assist on Phaneuf's first goal of the season, a power-play tally at 13:15.
NOTES: The Maple Leafs play the Canadiens three more times this season, all at the Air Canada Centre, including the regular-season finale for both teams on April 27. ... Montreal rookie Brendan Gallagher was given a minor penalty for diving 9:01 into the second period when he fell after he was spun around by Maple Leafs defenseman Mark Fraser, who was not penalized on the play. ... Canadiens right winger Ryan White was left out of the lineup. A fourth-line energy player, White has taken a number of costly penalties this season. His latest, a four-minute roughing double minor Thursday in Buffalo, helped allow the Sabres to erase a two-goal deficit in the third period of Montreal's 5-4 shootout loss.
