Caufield Scores His 40th In OT To Lead Habs to Victory

Tuesday night’s game was a hard-fought contest with a playoff atmosphere, which is something we can expect to see in many more of the final 15 games of the season. The game also showed that the Habs’ best players need to be their best players if they want to win these tight playoff-style games. Caufield may have scored his 40th goal which is what will be talked about most for this game, but he also played a solid responsible 2-way game and took his chances when they came to him not trying to force anything. The same goes for his linemates Juraj Slafkovsky and Nick Suzuki, who played great in their own right. At the end of the night, the Canadiens’ top line controlled the game, which made the difference in the end.

Outside of the top line, Josh Anderson was flying all night long and even got the game-tying goal. Anderson is built for big games as he always ups his play in the games that matter most. That proved to be the case once again, which allowed him to earn the 3rd star of the night. The other player who led the way for the Canadiens was the team’s top offensive defenseman, Lane Hutson, who made some big plays at both ends of the ice, especially in overtime.

It also helped a lot that Jakub Dobes was at the top of his game and made multiple key saves that led to the Habs getting the win. Dobes’ biggest save of the game came in overtime when Bruins forward Pavel Zacha was on a breakaway looking for his hat trick, but the Habs netminder got a piece as the puck missed the net. The Canadiens’ goaltender finished the night with 26 saves on 28 shots and got the job done for his team yet again. Dobes is the goaltender that the Canadiens’ management now trusts to get the job done in the big must-win games as he continues to secure victories. However, Fowler has also come up clutch, so don’t be surprised if he gets the start in yet another must-win game on Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings.

Another player that deserves props for his game on Tuesday night was Kaiden Guhle, who played possibly his best game since coming back from a groin injury on January 10th. He played with more physicality and was overall in better positioning than he has been in recent games. One factor could be that he played the majority of the game at 5-on-5 with a naturally right-handed defenseman in Alexandre Carrier for the first time in a long while. 

Despite the Bruins playing for the 2nd night in a row, they got the scoring started thanks to a double minor by Alexandre Carrier just 25 seconds into the game. On the ensuing power play, Pavel Zacha would score his first goal of the night with just 3 seconds left in the first half of the double minor. The Habs were able to kill the second half of the penalty thanks hugely to Dobes, who made 7 saves during the nearly 4 minutes of being shorthanded.

After the penalty kill, the Habs slowly started to control the period as they caught up to the Bruins in shots. During that span, captain Suzuki would get the Habs on the board with a goal for the 3rd straight game to tie things up at 1. It was a goal where all three players on the top line got involved, starting with Caufield, who deked the puck in the offensive zone before sending it towards Slafkovsky, who would find Suzuki in front of the net. Suzuki would flip a backhand over Jeremy Swayman for the goal. After the opening frame, it was a 1-1 tie that saw both teams trading chances heading into the 2nd period.

In the 2nd period, it was once again the Bruins that would capitalize early as Zacha would get his 2nd goal of the game off a defensive breakdown where Hutson and Oliver Kapanen got crossed up, leaving Zacha alone in the slot to redirect a shot past Dobes. On the replay, it showed that Kapanen had Zacha but chose to try to block the pass in the middle of the slot rather than challenge Zacha from tipping it.

The Habs’ defensive game wasn’t perfect on Tuesday as they continue to struggle in front of the net, but they allowed fewer chances like that than against the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. Nonetheless, the Habs still need to clean those mistakes up, as Dobes or Fowler won’t be able to bail them out every time.

In Brendan Gallagher’s 900th game as a Canadien, he was able to record an assist on the game-tying goal by sending the puck from behind the net late in the 2nd period to Hutson near the point. Hutson would skate around until he found a shooting lane where he shot it towards the net, where Anderson was able to tip it and get rewarded with a goal for his play on the night. Anderson had numerous other opportunities for a goal, including a shorthanded breakaway in the first period where he was robbed by Swayman. He used his speed to be a threat all night long and made his linemates look even better in the process.

Although Gallagher did play with a lot of hunger to score in his 900th game as well. Along with Phillip Danault, the reality is that the Habs’ 4th line played one of their best games in a while against the Bruins on Tuesday. The Habs will need their depth to step up along with their top players, as they did against the Bruins going forward.

The 3rd period didn’t see any goals, but both goalies had to stay sharp while the game went back and forth, which included a scramble in front where the Habs looked like they had a sure goal until Bruins defenseman Andrew Peake prevented the puck from going in by keeping it under his body.

Early in overtime, the Bruins had all the control for the first 2:22 until Hutson made a great play to poke the puck loose and get it himself, which allowed for a much-needed line change. This would then lead to both teams trading chances, with the best going to the Bruins’ Zacha, who was looking for the win and his hat trick. Luckily for the Habs, he missed with the help of Dobes getting a piece of it.

This would lead to the Habs game-winning goal with 22 seconds left as Hutson was weaving around with the puck before sending it to Suzuki, who made a perfect pass at the other side of the net to Caufield for the easy tap-in goal that would result in his 40th goal of the season. Caufield now has 15 games to score 10 goals and reach the 50-goal mark. While it won’t be easy, if anyone can score 10 goals in 15 games, it is Caufield. Either way, being the first 40-goal scorer with the Habs since Vincent Damphousse in 1993-94 is still a huge accomplishment that nobody can take away from him. On top of Caufield’s 40th, Suzuki would reach the 80-point mark with his assist on the game-winner.

It was a great game where the Habs got a much-needed win that they needed to not only retake a lead on the Bruins and the Red Wings but also to put the weekend’s struggles behind them. Even though they allowed the Bruins to get a point, the fact they got the extra point with the win is what matters most now. Hopefully, they can ride the momentum from this hard-fought game with them when they head to Detroit to take on the Red Wings on Thursday. It should all feel like playoff hockey from here on out.

What were your thoughts on the Habs’ 3-2 overtime win against the Bruins?