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Cole Caufield leads league in goals for last-place club

 Christopher Brown
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Cole Caufield leads league in goals for last-place club

The Canadiens have finally tasted victory. It’s the first time the Habs have won a game since October 27!

We’ll be honest, it was far from a perfect game, but under the circumstances, we weren’t going to spit on it.

Most importantly, the Habs’ forwards finally got their touch back. Just look at the number of points scored by all the team’s forwards on Monday.

(Credit: NHL.com)
Having six forwards with at least two points in the same game is literally candy.

With his four points, Suzuki reached the 300-point plateau in the NHL. He also helped the Canadiens regain some lost confidence late in the second period with his two goals.

His first goal tied the game and his second gave Montreal the lead just before the break.

We can’t overlook Juraj Slafkovsky’s three points. The Slovakian got on the score sheet for the first time after three games in the doldrums.

The solution was probably to put him back on the first line with Suzuki.

This first line-up of Suzuki, Slafkovsky and Kirby Dach proved to be an excellent idea. For his part, Dach collected two points.

And putting Caufield on the second line didn’t stop him from scoring goals. He may not have scored at five-on-five, but he gave himself two goals on the powerplay, where he excels.

With his two goals on Monday, Caufield now has 12 since the start of the season. He is now alone at the top of the NHL in this respect.

(Credit: NHL.com)

It’s crazy to see that in a club that occupies last place in the East!

The supporting forwards also played their part in this game. Josh Anderson and Christian Dvorak picked up two points, while Brendan Gallagher and Emil Heineman had one.

A number of other points attracted attention during the match.

1. Lane Hutson made a case for a regular spot on the first wave of the powerplay. His shot was redirected by Caufield on the Habs’ second goal, giving him his first assist. He then picked up another assist on Heineman’s goal.

These two points bring his total to 10 this season, tying him with Matvei Michkov for second place among rookie scorers.

(Credit: NHL.com)
The closest rookie defenseman in terms of points is Seamus Casey of the Devils, who has just four on his record.

Emil Heineman is also on this list with five points.

2. “The boys had had enough”. That’s what Martin St-Louis said after his team’s first win in seven games. It seemed to do the Habs dressing room a world of good.

3. Cayden Primeau doesn’t look like he belongs in the NHL. It was disastrous to watch. The Canadiens didn’t allow many shots. They led 23-18. Primeau still found a way to let in five goals on 14 shots.

With an efficiency rate of .845 this season, he can’t really be trusted in front of the net.

4. Speaking of shots on net, the Canadiens surprised by winning this battle. It’s rare for that to happen and it’s what can tip the balance in a game, especially when your defense and goalies are ripping it up.

5. The Canadiens’ centers are at it again in the face-off circle. Once again, the Habs weren’t able to do well on face-offs, winning only 39.4% of them.

Something really needs to change here. We know it’s something the Canadiens are working hard on in practice, but we’ll really have to double our efforts on this.

It’s a great victory in the Gerard Gallant era… it’s a joke.


Overtime

– Season over for Mantha.

– Well done.

– Well deserved.

This content was created with the help of AI.

This content was created with the help of AI.

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