10 Thoughts: Caufield’s 40th Leads Habs Over Bruins

After a disappointing weekend, the Habs looked to get back on track Tuesday with a key divisional game against Boston.  They never led in the game but it didn’t matter as Cole Caufield’s overtime winner gave them the 3-2 win.

Martin St. Louis made a trio of lineup changes for this one, two by choice and one by necessity.  The latter was Zach Bolduc returning to the lineup in place of Kirby Dach, whose upper-body injury will keep him out two to four weeks.  Meanwhile, the roster moves by choice saw Jayden Struble sub back in for Arber Xhekaj on the back end while the goalie rotation continued, meaning Jakub Dobes got the start in goal.  The rest of the team lined up as follows:

Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Newhook – Kapanen – Demidov
Texier – Evans – Dach
Anderson – Danault – Gallagher

Matheson – Dobson
Struble – Hutson
Guhle – Carrier

10 Thoughts

1) It has been a bit of a rough go for Alexandre Carrier lately, part of the impetus for shaking up the defence pairings.  Things didn’t get off to a good start for him in this one as he took a double-minor for a high stick on Tanner Jeannot on the opening shift of the game.  Montreal actually had the best chance early with Josh Anderson being sprung for a breakaway but Jeremy Swayman made the glove save.  For all the speed that Anderson has, his inability to cash on those chances – or even make an above-average shot attempt – really mitigates the value of those opportunities.

2) Unfortunately for Montreal, Boston picked things up from there.  Dobes made a pair of key stops but just before the first minor came to an end, Mike Matheson broke up a hard cross-ice pass from David Pastrnak.  However, a good defensive read actually proved costly.  The puck bounced out right to Pavel Zacha who had plenty of time and space to beat Dobes and open up the scoring.  The second half of the kill went a lot better, at least, avoiding complete disaster early on.

3) To their credit, the Habs bounced back quite well.  They started to put a lot of pressure on the Bruins, leading to plenty of offensive zone time.  Boston wound up going more than 10 minutes without a shot.  Meanwhile, during that span, the Canadiens tied it up.  A soft cross-ice feed at the Boston blueline was picked off by Cole Caufield.  A quick pass to Juraj Slafkovsky followed and he sent it to Nick Suzuki at the front of the net.  Suzuki showed plenty of patience, getting Swayman to bite, allowing him to lift one home to tie the game.

4) Montreal had a great chance to take the lead late in the first period when Mason Lohrei slashed Bolduc, sending the home side to the power play.  However, the top unit continued its recent play of playing way too casually without much purpose or desire to attempt a shot on goal, instead sending the teams to their dressing rooms tied at one after one.  There was a notable adjustment on the carry-over advantage, as Noah Dobson and Lane Hutson were both out there with a much more simplified approach.

5) Missed coverage was a theme from the weekend, especially since it played a role in Anaheim’s late game-winner on Sunday.  It came into play again in this one.  On a zone entry, both Hutson and Oliver Kapanen decided to cover Viktor Arvidsson.  That allowed Zacha to skate to the net unimpeded and redirect the Arvidsson feed past Dobes for his second of the game and 22nd of the season, a new career high.

6) Stick infractions were an issue in this game for the Canadiens.  On top of the Carrier double-minor in the first, Matheson took a high-sticking call of his own not long after the goal, while Phillip Danault took a slashing penalty late in the frame.  Bad penalties from the veterans (who kill penalties, no less) is asking for trouble but they did well to kill those off.

7) In between those kills, the Habs were able to tie it up once again.  Struble made a nice play to keep the puck in the offensive zone and the fourth line went to work on their cycle game.  Eventually, Hutson got the puck, skated around while looking for a lane, and took a shot that Anderson got a piece of to beat Swayman.  Brendan Gallagher picked up an assist as well in his 900th game.  It was good to see the rejigged defence pairings have some success and hopefully get some confidence going at a time when confidence has been an issue defensively.

8) The third period featured a lot of playing it safe.  Certainly understandable, given how close the two teams are in the standings.  But the Canadiens continued to struggle in the defensive zone in terms of slot coverage.  On multiple occasions, Boston’s attackers (even Charlie McAvoy at one point) were open in the centre of the ice.  Teams have figured out that the defensive coverage will break down in that area.  They need to tighten it up.

9) The highlight of the third period was with a little over three minutes to go.  Caufield took a shot off the side of the net, though Swayman wasn’t able to corral it.  Suzuki had a shot with a partially open net but Andrew Peeke was able to block it and partially cover it.  Seconds later, Kaiden Guhle got a chance in tight but Swayman had recovered to make the stop.  Boston pressured late but Montreal was able to get it to overtime.

10) The first half of the extra frame saw both teams playing keep-away over attempting to score.  However, on the first attempt from Boston, Hutson was able to knock the puck away on a mini two-on-one and the Habs took over from there.  After a couple of saves and some missed chances, Caufield was able to tip home a late shot from Suzuki to get the Canadiens the win.  Not a bad way to get #40 for Caufield, the first Hab to do so since Vincent Damphousse in 1993-94.

HW Habs 3 Stars

1st Star: Cole Caufield – Montreal’s top line was arguably its best again in this one (with the fourth line getting an honourable mention) but Caufield generated several good looks and, of course, got the critical winner for the extra point.

Stats: 1 goal, 1 assist, +2 rating, 4 shots, 19:58 TOI

2nd Star: Kaiden Guhle – Where has this type of performance been lately?  Guhle has struggled in terms of decision-making and his confidence took a tumble as a result.  That was not the case in this one.  He was assertive at both ends and played a big role shorthanded.  That earned him one of his highest TOIs recently as Martin St. Louis recognized his strong performance and kept putting him out there.

Stats: 0 points, +1 rating, 2 shots, 2 hits, 22:27 TOI

3rd Star: Jakub Dobes – Josh Anderson easily could have warranted a mention here but Dobes did well to hold Boston to the two goals and couldn’t have done much on either of them.  He made a number of key stops to either hold the deficit at one or keep the game tied.  A strong bounce-back effort after a tough game against the Sharks.

Stats: 26 saves on 28 shots, 1.86 GAA, .929 SV%