Laughton’s four-point night helps Leafs to 7-2 win over Habs in NHL pre-season action

MONTREAL — Scott Laughton scored twice and added two assists to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 7-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in NHL pre-season action on Thursday at Bell Centre.

After the game, the Canadiens announced that defencemen Kaiden Guhle and Noah Dobson were day-to-day with groin injuries. Guhle was a late scratch while Dobson left the game and did not return.

Another Montreal blueliner, David Reinbacher, also left the game early. An update on his status was expected Friday.

Laughton opened the scoring at 4:35 of the first period and made it 2-0 when he tallied at 13:15.

Montreal’s Mike Matheson halved the deficit with a power-play goal at 16:26 but Bobby McMann answered 31 seconds later to make it 3-1.

Patrik Laine scored a power-play goal at 5:08 of the second period before Steven Lorentz scored a pair of goals 97 seconds apart.

Matt Benning and Ryan Tverberg tallied in the third period as the Maple Leafs pulled away.

Toronto netminder Dennis Hildeby made 11 saves.

Montreal goaltender Sam Montembeault stopped 12 shots over two periods. Jacob Fowler made six saves over 20 minutes of work.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2025.