Hidden Game: Canadiens extend winning streak to seven against Rangers
It was 54 years ago, on April 2, 1972, that Vic Hadfield became the first New York Rangers player to score 50 goals in a season. He scored twice in a 6-5 loss to the Canadiens at Madison Square Garden.
Thursday night, again at MSG, the Rangers and Canadiens — two Original Six teams — met. And we nearly saw Cole Caufield score his 50th goal this season.
Caufield scored twice, including the winner with slightly more than five minutes remaining in regulation time, as the Canadiens edged the Rangers 3-2. The game shouldn’t have been that close but, 100 years from now, nobody will remember.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch: The Canadiens stretched their season-long winning streak to seven games. That includes the first four games of this five-game road trip. The Canadiens won eight consecutive games early in the 2016-17 season. Caufield now has 49 goals this season with seven games remaining. It’s no longer a question of if — but when — he’ll hit 50.
All Caufield, all the time: He now has 12 goals in his last 11 games. That includes scoring in four straight games. Caufield also has 12 game-winning goals this season. Twenty-six of his 49 goals have come on the road. He becomes the first Montreal player to score that frequently on the road since Guy Lafleur in 1979-80.
Coincidence, or not?: Late in the game, the Rangers having pulled goaltender Igor Shesterkin, Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis kept Caufield on the bench. None of Caufield’s 49 have come into an empty net. Somehow, it wouldn’t do justice if the 50th was produced without a netminder, in our humble opinion.
Memo to Caufield: Don’t score Saturday at New Jersey. The Canadiens then return to play four straight at home. Caufield deserves to do this at the Bell Centre. The fans deserve it, too.
It must be the traffic: Anyone who has been to Manhattan knows drivers basically can’t get anywhere. That might explain the Rangers’ 12-19-7 record on home ice. They’ve been shut out seven times at MSG — and went more than 49 minutes before ending Jacob Fowler’s bid for his second shutout this season. New York, already eliminated from the playoffs, will miss post-season action for a second straight season.
News you need (Part I): This was the Canadiens’ first win at MSG since January 2023.
No-fault insurance doesn’t exist in the state of New York: It might have been accidental, but Juraj Slafkovsky took a double-minor seven minutes into the game for high-sticking Vladislav Gavrikov. The Rangers directed three shots at Fowler over the next four minutes, but failed to score.
Strange, but true: The Rangers didn’t get another shot until 58 seconds remained in the period. They peppered Fowler, making his first start since , with three shots in the final minute.
Hockey players are tough: Josh Anderson took a Kaiden Guhle shot — deflected by Jake Evans — to the face in the period. Anderson moved his jaw around a little, saw no teeth were lost, and didn’t miss a shift. Why are we not surprised?
Faceoff of the night (Part I): Alex Newhook beat J.T. Miller to the draw in the second period. Eight seconds later, Newhook opened the scoring.
Pass of the night: Slafkovsky, behind his back, to Caufield on Montreal’s second goal.
Sieve of the night: Shesterkin has won 24 of New York’s 31 games this season. He stopped 48 of 50 shots in his last two starts. But he was beaten on the 12th and 13th shots he faced over a span of 1:44. His save percentage against Montreal was .880.
Great moments in officiating: Zachary Bolduc grabbed Will Borgen’s stick in the second period. Bolduc then high-sticked himself in the face with Borgen’s stick. Borgen was penalized. We can’t make this stuff up.
What was all the fuss about: With two unanswered second-period goals, the Canadiens now have outscored opponents 89-84 in the period. It also marked the eighth consecutive game in which Montreal hasn’t allowed a second-period score.
News you need (Part II): Will Cuylle’s tying goal, slightly more than 14 minutes into the third period, ended a 13-game drought.
Momentum … schmomentum: Only 47 seconds later, Caufield scored the winning goal.
The things that sometimes go unnoticed: That goal began with Nick Suzuki winning a faceoff in his own zone. Before the puck was dropped, Mike Matheson and Noah Dobson changed positions. That meant, following the faceoff, Matheson had the puck on his forehand. Matheson passed to Caufield.
Unsung heroes: In the game’s final minute, Guhle blocked a Mika Zibanejad shot. And Evans won two critical faceoffs — beating Miller and then Vincent Trocheck with 2.8 seconds remaining.
Defence wins championships: Canadiens’ goals against during this winning run — 3, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2.
Next time, decline the penalties: The Rangers went 0-for-3 on the power play. The Canadiens were 0-for-2 with the man-advantage.
Quick stats: Caufield had seven shots. Guhle blocked four shots and had four hits. Jayden Struble had four hits. Dobson had three blocks. Lane Hutson played 25:54. Matheson played 23:22. Dobson played 22:43. Arber Xhekaj played only 9:45, while Brendan Gallagher was limited to 8:50. Fowler’s save percentage was .917. The Canadiens won 57.7 per cent of their faceoffs, but were outhit 27-22.
They said it: “We want to keep this going,” Caufield said in New York. “It’s a good feeling in the room right now, but we’re still hungry. We’re focused on our team game and winning games. Individual stuff comes with that. Doing the right thing, you get more chances and opportunities. Obviously, it helps when you’re winning games. You’d be crazy obviously not to know what’s going on around the league.
“Fowler was great,” he added. “He made a bunch of great saves.”
“You have a goal-scorer like (Caufield), you know you can always pass to him and there’s a big chance it’s going in,” Slafkovsky said. “I hope he can get (50) as soon as possible.”
“I didn’t really love our whole game tonight,” Suzuki said in New York. “There were points where we were doing good things. And points where we kept shooting ourselves in the foot a little bit. Finding a way to win the game after giving those two up is huge for us.”
“I know that we (can play) better than tonight,” St. Louis said. “I felt we put ourselves in a spot to win the game. Fourth game on the road. The last five, six games have been playoff-like games. I didn’t feel our intentions were so off. We weren’t as sharp in some spots but, in the end, I felt we put ourselves in a good spot to win the game.”
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