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Montreal Canadiens

Caufield Scores 16th Goal In Canadiens 4-2 Loss To Kings

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Montreal Canadiens top line

The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night, in what can only be described as a matchup that was definitely a hockey game.

The Canadiens started slow, putting just five shots on the net through the first 20 minutes of the game while allowing the Kings to score twice.

And that’s when the Canadiens slowed down further, ultimately losing 4-2 to the Kings.

All jokes aside, it was a sleepy game for the Canadiens, but a late third-period resurgence did make things interesting while also leading to Cole Caufield’s 16th goal of the season.

It should be noted Jake Allen, who has struggled to find consistency this season, was excellent.

Allen faced 16 high-danger shots, including 13 at 5v5. If not for his solid effort, the scoreline would have looked much less flattering for the Canadiens.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the, uh, highlights of the game.

Jacked Guy

Arber Xhekaj hit a guy.

It was a big hit.

Xhekaj likes to make big hits.

It’s fun to watch him make big hits.

Top Line Shuffle

Sean Monahan was not available.

Kirby Dach was removed from the top line.

The Canadiens struggled.

Kirby Dach was returned to the top line.

The Canadiens no longer struggled.

The Hoff

Mike Hoffman returned to the lineup.

Mike Hoffman scored.

Kaiden Guhle did a great job setting up the play.

The Canadiens avoided the shutout.

It was neat.

Cole Train

One of the major risks when writing about an ongoing game is the possibility a couple of late goals will essentially ruin the tone you set throughout the rest of the recap and you’ll end up looking like a dummy.

On a completely unrelated note, take a look at Cole Caufield’s 16th goal of the year.

Sneaky Strong

A serious note, if I may, on one of Nick Suzuki’s most underrated assets: strength.

At the start of his NHL career, Suzuki got caught by his fair share of heavy hits, which is par for the course when it comes to adapting to the lack of time and space in the NHL.

And though some of those hits were of the heavy variety, Suzuki made a habit of quickly shaking them off by bouncing back into the play as if he had just jumped on the ice due to a line change.

Those hits are few and far between at this point in his career.

But every now and again a player will underestimate the Canadiens captain, forgetting that despite seeing a 5’11” player on the ice, Suzuki is well over 200 lbs, and a lot of that muscle resides in his core.

The consequence is a swift reminder of Newton’s third law of motion.

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.


(All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via NaturalStatTrick)