Caufield Leads Canadiens into Minnesota to Face Guerin, Wild

Ironically, the only game during that stretch in which Caufield didn’t score was against the Avalanche, when the Canadiens put up seven in a 7-3 win to avenge a 7-2 rout in November. That win, over the behemoth Avs, has also ironically been the only victory of five in that stretch by more than a goal (excluding the empty-netter against the Sabres yesterday). And, in three of those five wins, Caufield has been the difference, scoring the game-winning goals (to co-lead the league with eight), all in dramatic fashion.

Caufield Leads Canadiens Past Wild the First Time

For example, on Jan. 20 against the Minnesota Wild, Caufield broke a 3-3 tie with 15 seconds left to send general manager Bill Guerin’s team packing without a single point. That goal was especially significant, because Guerin, who also manages the U.S. Olympic team, had left both Caufield and teammate Lane Hutson off the roster to start the year. Since that point, both players have been on relative tears, with Caufield obviously grabbing the bigger headlines recently for his heroics.

So, with two contests left before the Olympic break, one has to like the Canadiens’ chances as they continue their current three-game road trip with a match-up in Minnesota. It would be easy, understandable even, for the Habs to take their collective foot off the pedal after such an emotional week, which probably has them high on cloud nine. They’re also facing two non-Eastern teams in the Winnipeg Jets on Feb. 4 and, up next on Feb. 2, the Wild. So, there’s less pressure. And yet the Wild arguably represent the perfect opponents for the Habs, who can’t afford to take a night off and give points away playing in such a tight division, as things wind down for literally three weeks.

After all, Caufield and Hutson still have points to prove. You maybe wouldn’t think so, with the last game against the Wild ending how it did and Hutson scoring earlier in the game and adding an assist on Caufield’s game-winner, but the U.S. team literally passed Hutson over for Anaheim Duck Jackson Lacombe as an injury replacement for Florida Panthers defenseman Seth Jones, a day later.

With the Wild having won five straight since their last-minute loss to the Canadiens, both teams are peaking… maybe at the wrong time with the Olympics just ahead. However, the Habs, who probably deserved a better fate against the Bruins, went a deserving 10-6 in January. They’ve established themselves as a playoff-calibre team at this point. They may not officially be a playoff team, but, one year after surprisingly making them in the middle of a rebuild, they’ve proven the success they enjoyed, from the point at which they climbed out of the Eastern Conference basement starting Dec. 3, 2024, playing .621 hockey the rest of the way to clinch a berth, was no fluke.

Canadiens, Caufield Have No Time to Waste

Currently at 31-17-7 (.627), the Canadiens are in third place in the Atlantic, one point back of the Detroit Red Wings for second with one game in hand. They’re also a single point up on the Sabres, who have one game in hand themselves, and Bruins, who hold the second Eastern wild-card spot. The Columbus Blue Jackets find themselves six points back of the Bruins, 54 games played to the latter’s 55, for that last playoff spot, meaning there is significant separation between the teams on the outside looking in and those currently holding down spots, putting the Habs in a good position.

They fortified that positioning by avoiding a three-game sweep in as many weeks at the hands of the Sabres, who, since Dec. 9, are 20-4-1 (.820), and effectively this season’s Canadiens. Any debate as to which team is further along in their respective rebuilds and, well, better for all intents and purposes, is irrelevant at this juncture, though. Their season series, knotted at two wins apiece, each game decided by two goals, whatever that’s worth, is over and the Habs must move on. As much as they may have assuaged concerns of a free fall down the standings with their recent play, there is still a lot of hockey left, even before the Olympics, even if it is officially just two games.

Just look at how much of a difference three just made. Credit largely goes to Dobes for the turnaround, but, in a season during which the Canadiens are getting by with average goaltending, it’s their fourth-ranked 3.44 goals per game that is leading the charge, Caufield now just eight away from giving the Habs their first 40-goal scorer since 1993-94.

For the record, Caufield is on pace for 48 overall. So, if he’s to reach an even more significant milestone, every single game counts… starting against the Wild.