Habs Highlights: Heineman and Caufield Score, Soderblom Shines

The Montreal Canadiens faced the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night, looking to maintain their momentum from their impressive wins in Florida and Nevada.

While the Habs were riding a three-game winning streak, the Blackhawks had not won a game since December 19, giving this match-up all the ingredients necessary to be qualified as a trap game for Martin St-Louis’ troops.

Prior to the game the Canadiens announced both Patrik Laine (flu) and David Savard (upper-body) would not participate, which led to Michael Pezzetta and Jayden Struble entering the lineup.

The Habs started the game with a heavy dose of indiscipline, giving the Hawks a 1–0 lead just a few minutes into the first period. Playing behind the eight-ball was too much to handle for Montreal, as the Blackhawks emerged with a 4-2 win.

Let’s dive into the highlights!

Physical Start

The Blackhawks took advantage of an early 5-on-3 to open the scoring, following a broken play in the Canadiens’ zone that led to simultaneous penalties for Jayden Struble and Arber Xhekaj.

The inauspicious start overshadowed what was otherwise a solid first period from the Canadiens, who held a significant edge in shots and quality chances at 5v5 throughout the entire game.

With Blackhawks goaltender Arvid Soderblom standing tall, the Habs turned to their physical play to break open the game, starting with a rapid-fire combo from Arber Xhekaj that dropped veteran Pat Maroon, who insisted on fighting a much younger opponent.

To quote 20th century poet George Lucas, “He chose poorly.”

The Sheriff gets a W over Maroon. pic.twitter.com/3ezl87rcLg

— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) January 4, 2025

Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki got into the action, reminding everyone that he’s 5’11”, 210 lbs, which means he has the core strength of an old-growth oak tree.

Nick Suzuki just killed a man pic.twitter.com/pAukkXZPup

— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) January 4, 2025

No Pressure

Without Laine in the lineup, all eyes were on sniper Cole Caufield, the team’s best chance to beat Soderbloom, who almost saved 20 high-danger chances at 5v5.

Thankfully, the Blackhawks defenders decided to abandon Caufield in a prime scoring area, giving him all the time necessary to score his 20th goal of the season late in the first period. He is the first Habs player to score four consecutive 20-goal seasons since former captain Max Pacioretty.

Quatrième saison de suite d’au moins 20 buts pour Caufield! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/K25tCFihnE

— TVA Sports (@TVASports) January 4, 2025

Rookie Ramping

Chicago veteran Nick Foligno gave the Hawks the lead midway through the second period, followed by Maroon’s second goal of the year, giving the home team a two goal lead in the process.

Montreal fought their way back into the game thanks to Emil Heineman’s 10th goal of the year, making him only the third rookie to reach the 10-goal club this season, alongside Matvei Michkov and Macklin Celebrini.

Heineman’s underlying numbers had been solid throughout the first 20 games of the year, and now he’s being rewarded for all his hard work with a little more shooting luck, which explains the uptick in goals. At some point, the Habs will want to investigate whether Heineman is worthy of a legitimate audition in the top-six, but for now he’s doing fantastic things with very limited minutes on the fourth line.

on l’appelle désormais HeineMAINS

call him Email, cause he’s delivering goals#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/9NH9OVxluX

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) January 4, 2025

What Went Wrong?

Heineman’s goal was all for naught, as the Hawks closed down the game in style, taking over the momentum in the final minutes of the third period.

After playing like Cup contenders against the Panthers, the Lightning, and the Golden Knights, it’s hard not to be disappointed by the team’s 4-2 loss to the Blackhawks.

But despite the frustrating scoreline, you’d be hard-pressed to argue the Canadiens did not generate enough chances to score a handful of goals. Simply put, Soderblom was fantastic, and if there’s one criticism to offer in regard to Montreal’s offensive strategy it’s that they didn’t generate very many second-chance opportunities, the type of plays necessary to beat a hot goalie.

The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Saturday, facing the Avalanche in Colorado. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 pm ET. All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.