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Canadiens Postgame

Canadiens Instant Recap: Top Line Chemistry, Caufield Leads NHL

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12 months ago

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montreal canadiens slafkovsky suzuki dach

The Montreal Canadiens were in Buffalo on Monday afternoon to face the Sabres in a rare matinée matchup.

Martin St-Louis’ team has struggled of late, and was looking to earn their first win in November. To do so, St-Louis decided to mix things up in the top six, by sending sniper Cole Caufield to the second line, while Juraj Slafkovsky played on the first line alongside Nick Suzuki and Kirby Dach.

The experiment did yield some very interesting results during a chaotic game that saw both teams pull their starting goalies. The Canadiens rallied several times to eventually emerge with a much-needed 7-5 win.

There’s a lot to discuss, so let’s dive into the highlights!

Mr. Anderson

For the first time in a very long time, the Canadiens carried the momentum in the early part of the first period, which led to Josh Anderson’s fantastic opening goal. Full marks to Christian Dvorak for his quick pass, which allowed Anderson to use his best weapon, his high-end speed.

One of the major issues concerning the team’s lack of offensive firepower is their inability to generate scoring plays off the rush, and while we shouldn’t expect Anderson to score every night, he can certainly help the Canadiens in that regard.

There It Is

The lead lasted a grand total of 28 seconds before Tage Thompson tied the game with a great individual effort. Cole Caufield was the last man back, but if we’re being honest, it’s rather difficult to pin any of the blame on him given the physical mismatch.

More than anything, it was Mike Matheson’s decision to pinch that put Caufield in the difficult situation.

That being said, overall, the Canadiens were the better team in the first period, a nice change of pace for both the players and the fans.

Hutson Impact

Cole Caufield gave the Canadiens their second lead of the game by scoring his 11th goal of the season. It also put Caufield back into a tie for the league lead in goal scoring, a silver lining in what is otherwise a rather frustrating season.

I don’t mean to take any credit away from Caufield, as he did a great job anticipating the pass from Lane Hutson into a high-danger scoring area, but I do feel safe suggesting the Canadiens would be a much better team if players capitalized on the chances created by Hutson.

Just like Caufield did.

With an assist on the play, Nick Suzuki earned his 300th NHL point, making him in the sixth-youngest player in team history to reach that mark, behind Guy Lafleur, Stephane Richer, Henri Richard, Steve Shutt, and Mario Tremblay.


Here We Go Again

The hockey gods simply could not allow the Canadiens to hold a lead for more than a minute, as evidenced by Buffalo’s game-tying goal just 19 seconds later. To make matters worse, they followed it up with another quick goal that was helped along by Primeau’s poor read of the situation.


Script Change?

Unlike previous games, the Canadiens did not melt away after their double dose of adversity, and much of it has to do with the strong play from Slafkovsky.

The 20-year-old did a great job corralling a tough pass by Dach with just one minute left in the third period. He then quickly fed it to Suzuki, who easily scored his fifth goal of the year. It should be noted this was the second time the Canadiens scored off the rush, an encouraging sign to say the least.

Slafkovsky followed it up with another strong effort, this time around via a heavy forecheck in the dying seconds of the frame. Suzuki deserves credit for scoring his second goal of the game, but the most important lesson on Monday was that an elevated effort level usually leads to very good things.

Script Change Denied, Or Is It?

This will shock absolutely everyone who has followed the Canadiens this year, but believe it or not, they immediately allowed the Sabres to score two goals in short order once the third period started. Mike Matheson and Kaiden Guhle could have done a much better job defending the rush, as some confusion led to the typical chaos in the defensive zone, but it must be said that Primeau once again failed to save a very stoppable shot.

In past years, I have been quick to defend the goalies, and there’s something to be said about the number of high-danger chances the Canadiens hand out every night, but there’s absolutely no doubt Primeau needs to be better if he’s to keep his job as an NHL backup.

Fortunately for the Canadiens, hard-working forward Emil Heineman scored his third goal of the year midway through the third period. Hutson registered his 10th point of the season on the play, but more importantly, it was a continuation of the quiet, but solid season put together by No.51. Heineman is one of the few players in the lineup that flirts with controlling over 50 percent of the shots and scoring chances while he’s on the ice.

Usually, that wouldn’t be anything to write home about, but relative to the rest of the Canadiens, it’s an impressive feat for the rookie.


Caufield followed it up with his 12th goal of the year for the Montreal Canadiens, officially making him the NHL’s leader in goals.

I can’t remember the last time a Habs player was in the mix for the Maurice Richard Trophy this late into the season, and yes, I am remembering Brian Savage. Some of that has to do with the team’s lack of offensive prowess in the last few decades, but regardless, credit must be given to Caufield for finding his scoring rhythm during a difficult season.

The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Thursday. They will face the red-hot Minnesota Wild on the road, with the puck drop scheduled for 7 pm ET. All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.

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