Tonight at 7 p.m. ET, the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs kick off their 2014-15 campaigns with NHL Opening Night action live from the Bell Centre in Montreal. The game can be live streamed here. Montreal fans can hear all of the action on TSN 690 while Toronto fans can do the same on TSN 1020.
The Canadiens went 46-28-8 last season and had a successful run all the way to the Eastern Conference Final while the Maple Leafs lost 12 of their last 14 down the stretch and missed the playoffs for the eighth time in nine seasons.
Toronto brought in a few forwards this offseason, but was mostly quiet on the personnel front.
Phil Kessel led the Maple Leafs with 80 points off of 37 goals and 43 assists last season while James van Riemsdyk was second on the team with 61 points off of 30 markers and 31 helpers and Nazem Kadri found the twine 20 times and added 30 assists for 50 points. The team's defense still runs through veteran Dion Phaneuf.
In net, the Maple Leafs turn to Jonathan Bernier, who went 26-19-7 last season with a 2.70 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage.
Montreal took three of five from Toronto last season and revealed this offseason that forwards Max Pacioretty and Tomas Plekanec and defenseman Andrei Markov and P.K. Subban will all be alternate captains on the team this season and no one will don the 'C' now that Brian Gionta departed for the Buffalo Sabres after spending four seasons as the team's captain.
The biggest move for the Canadiens was bringing in forward P.A. Parenteau this offseason to play a top-six role on the team. Pacioretty led the Canadiens with 60 points and ranked fourth in the NHL with 39 goals last season while Subban was second on the team with 53 points off of 10 tallies and 43 helpers.
Between the pipes, Carey Price will suit up for Montreal after going 34-20-5 with a 2.32 GAA and ranking fourth in the NHL with a .927 save percentage last season while adding six shutouts.
Two fierce Canadian rivals kick off the 2014-15 NHL campaign when the Maple Leafs and Canadiens take the ice tonight at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
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