TORONTO — For a brief moment, it seemed like the first chapter of a statement performance.

The season was barely two minutes old, the throngs of Toronto Maple Leafs fans barely settled in their seats, and William Nylander was gathering the puck off an offensive-zone faceoff, darting to the slot, and whipping it on net. And there was Bobby McMann — he of that much-discussed, months-long, late-season scoring slump — deflecting No. 88’s shot through Sam Montembeault’s five-hole, doing in 60 seconds this year what he couldn’t muster over hours, days and weeks to end the last campaign. Setting the tone for a group that’s waded through months of question marks and scrutiny and doubt.

It took five minutes for it all to go sideways, for the quick-footed Montreal Canadiens to turn up the heat and

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