Hidden Game: Caufield scores in shootout to beat Jets
Are players-only meetings a solution for what ails a struggling hockey team? That depends on whether you look at the glass being half-full or half-empty.
Much has been made of the players-only meeting Winnipeg Jets’ captain Adam Lowry called — without the knowledge of head coach Scott Arniel — following his team’s 5-1 loss at Buffalo Monday night. It was their fifth defeat in six games and it seems when a team loses to the Sabres, it has hit rock-bottom.
The Jets were more inspired Wednesday night at the Bell Centre but still lost, 3-2, to the Canadiens in a shootout. The visitors still got a loser’s point and came within a post on a Gabriel Vilardi shootout attempt in the third round of extending the game.
Glass half-full.
But Winnipeg lost nonetheless. Glass half-empty.
The Canadiens haven’t exactly been world-beaters of late themselves, but the victory ended a two-game losing streak.
News you need (Part I):
The ovation former Canadiens defenceman
received during his pre-game ceremony lasted 2:14. Markov played 990 games over 16 seasons for Montreal — not bad for a sixth-round (162nd overall) draft choice in 1998. At age 46, he looks fit, athletic and could easily be pencilled-in as the team’s seventh defenceman, in our humble opinion. Ok, eighth on the depth chart once Kaiden Guhle returns from injury.
Our two cents:
Markov’s tribute was televised only on RDS — not Sportsnet. Had it been for a Toronto Maple Leafs’ fourth-line winger, or a Toronto Blue Jays’ utility player, it would have been shown in its entirety. What a bush-league gesture.
Strange, but true:
Although Cole Caufield scored the only shootout goal, he hasn’t scored in regulation against Winnipeg in 10 games.
News you need (Part II):
Caufield and
both produced assists against Winnipeg, increasing their point streaks to nine and seven games, respectively.
News you need (Part III):
Following the game the Canadiens announced forward Florian Xhekaj and defenceman
, both healthy scratches against Winnipeg, have been loaned to AHL Laval. The Rocket, first in the North Division, might soon become unbeatable.
Giveaway of the night (Part I):
Logan Stanley to Suzuki in the first period.
Fight of the night:
Lowry plastered Alexandre Carrier behind the Canadiens net in the first period. Arber Xhekaj then put a beating on Lowry, no Caspar Milquetoast at 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds. Xhekaj, as is his custom, pumped the crowd up as he went to the dressing room.
That’ll shut ’em up:
Mark Scheifele, still being booed by Montreal fans for a vicious — and cheap-shot —
during the 2021 playoffs, opened the scoring late in the first period. To nobody’s surprise, the spectators continued braying upon him. Do people actually believe this gesture affects visiting players?
Pass of the night (Part I):
Kyle Connor, behind the back, to Scheifele on the goal.
Giveaway of the night (Part II):
Dylan Samberg to Caufield early in the second period.
He plays better without a stick:
Juraj Slafkovsky
, despite having no stick at one point in the second period, delivered a thunderous check on Josh Morrissey.
Pass of the night (Part II):
Caufield, from behind the net, to Slafkovsky on Montreal’s opening goal.
Momentum … schmomentum (Part I):
Only 1:53 after Slafkovsky scored, Connor gave Winnipeg a 2-1 lead.
Momentum … schmomentum (Part II):
Barely more than two minutes later,
tied the game.
News you need (Part IV):
The Canadiens outscored Winnipeg 2-1 in the second period. That means they’ve now only been outscored 39-27 during that 20-minute time frame. Maybe there’s hope yet?
It’s time to change stick manufacturers:
We’re not sure what brand Mike Matheson uses, but it seems the Canadiens’ defenceman breaks at least one every game. On this night, it was two — including an attempted shot from the blue line in overtime. Matheson, who rarely loses his temper, did. We don’t blame him.
It’s a crowded leaderboard:
Caufield, Suzuki and Slafkovsky were reunited against Winnipeg — and all three went minus-2.
Quick stats:
Josh Anderson had five hits — one more than both Brendan Gallagher and Joe Veleno. The latter played only 9:50. Caufield and Ivan Demidov each had four shots. Noah Dobson blocked six shots. Matheson played 27:12 and blocked four shots. Jakub Dobes’s save percentage was .935. Jared Davidson, who returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch the last three games, received only 8:18 of ice time. The Canadiens won 60.7 per cent of their faceoffs and outhit Winnipeg 25-22. Veleno won eight of 10 faceoffs, while Evans won eight of 11.
They said it:
“It was a momentum-filled game,” Evans said. “(Tuesday) night (against Ottawa) we didn’t really handle that well. Tonight was one of our most-complete 60-minute games … 65, I guess. Everyone contributed. We fought to the very end.”
“We’ve had a lot of bad days over the last couple of weeks,” Dobes said. “Every good and positive day just helps. Some goalies think a goalpost is their best friend. I’m just happy it didn’t go in. Personally I don’t think about that too much.”
“I think the fight was good for both sides,” Xhekaj said. “They’re kind of going through it a little bit. We had a couple bad games in a row. For both sides it was good to get the game going I thought.”
