Hockey

Lane Hutson is right: Cole Caufield (Mr. Prolongation) deserves to go to the Olympics
Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Lane Hutson is right: Cole Caufield (Mr. Prolongation) deserves to go to the Olympics
Credit: Getty Images

Do you have the feeling that Cole Caufield can score in important moments? That's right, when you look at his five goals this season, you can see that the diminutive forward often scores in the important moments… and his last three goals are good examples of that. He scored in overtime against Seattle on Tuesday, tied the score with 19 seconds to play yesterday and gave his club the win(3-2 over Nashville) as overtime drew to a close.

No, never count the Canadiens out.in fact,Caufield is so good in overtime that he's now at the top of the Canadiens' all-time list for overtime goals with 10.He's helped by the three-on-three, but to join Max Pacioretty and Howie Morenz at the top of that list is interesting for a guy who's only been in the league since 2021.

And while we're at it, no player has scored 10 overtime goals in fewer games (292) than he has in the history of the National League

All this to say that the guy is clutch. He's playing 200 feet more and more, and his scoring touch is insane. That's why Lane Hutson is right: the Americans, who lost in overtime in the Four Nations Confrontation final, need to consider Cole Caufield's candidacy.

His father no doubt has Nick Suzuki saying he should represent Canada.Hutson himself isn't sure he'll make the club(he's only just been added to his preliminary roster), but he's preaching to the choir. I don't know how much the U.S. wants smaller players, but the two guys are helping each other out right now.content-ads]It's crazy, though, that yesterday's game ended on such an exciting note… when you remember how plaaaaaaaaaate the game was to begin with. With the Blue Jays on the other shift, what game were you listening to?Not only did the club find a way to win, it did so in dramatic fashion. Just betting on comebacks isn't sustainable, but it shows that the guys in the club believe in themselves. You have to give Caufield credit, obviously, but you also have to give credit to their defenders. Mike Matheson made a great play in overtime on the winning goal, and what about Hutson, who's out of his mind with his contract situation AND seems faster than ever on the ice since the start of the season?

The best were the best at the best of times yesterday.What else will I take away from this game, which represents a fourth straight win in five games this season for Martin St-Louis' men?

1. The coach wanted a better start to the season? It's too early to analyze the standings, but the Habs are in first place in their division, with a .800 record. That's exactly what it took. 2. The top talent in this club is obvious. It's different from what we've seen in the past, and it means that Nick Suzuki (who is an excellent passer) can miss 2356 chances in overtime without it being the talk of the town. One day, he'll have to score… but the club's winning, so it's less of an issue.3. Jakub Dobes is a good goalkeeper. He kept his club in the game and was able to score another win – his second in as many games this season. Cole Caufield enjoyed it, anyway. That play in overtime saved his. And even if he didn't manage to carry the puck into another dimension before the referee's whistle, he saved his team from a setback.Well done.

4. The Habs will have to work on their powerplay, which was 0-in-3 yesterday. And since the club also gave up a goal to the short-handed Preds, we note that the special units could have killed the club last night. That's something to work on. 5. Oliver Kapanen has good hockey sense. He knows how to position himself well, and since the start of the season, he's often found the back of the net. The European understands that Joe Veleno is waiting for his chance, and he wants nothing to do with visiting the Bell Centre gangway in preparation for tomorrow night's game against the Rangers.

6. We almost forget that at the start of the game, we wanted to change everything following an ordinary game. There were defensive changes, in particular, when Jayden Struble went from the stands to “Lane Hutson's playing partner” in just a few minutes of play.

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'prolongation'

Because Martin St-Louis decided to give his flock the day off today, we shouldn't see the Canadiens give a medical update on Kaiden Guhle.

Guhle didn't immediately head to the dressing room, but he didn't play at the end of the game. We're not sure what that means, since the club was down a goal and it wasn't his place to eat up minutes under the circumstances,but the Habs can't afford to lose him.

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