Tuesday night was stop three in the four-game road trip for the Montreal Canadiens as they visited the Predators in Nashville. Montreal was respectable in their first two contests with shootout losses to both the Panthers and Lightning.
In Nashville, it was a tale of two teams. The first Canadiens club played terribly for half a game, but then came roaring back against the league’s hottest club to force overtime winning 4-3.
Wilde Horses
There were missed assignments all over the ice for the Canadiens for the first half of the game. Juraj Slafkovsky lost his man on the first two goals against, and the defence also disappeared. The Canadiens were so flat, in the second period, they didn’t get a single shot until the halfway mark.
Then something bizarre happened. The Canadiens scored two goals in six seconds. The first goal was the conventional variety. Brendan Gallagher snapped a shot into the top corner from 30 feet.
The second was as bizarre as a goal can get. It was the classic dump-in by the defenceman from centre trying to wrap the shot around the boards. Most have seen a dump-in carom off the glass at the midway mark and redirect at a 45-degree angle.
No one has seen a shot that took a 90-degree turn hitting the class in the corner at the goal line and somehow dancing along the red line all the way across the ice directly into the net as if defying the laws of physics.
The Canadiens needed a break and that one by David Savard seemed to have divine intervention attached to it. The shot had an expected goal probability of 0.0024.
The miracle goal rejuvenated the Canadiens as they went on to play well in the third period. Down 3-2 with time running down, Joshua Roy streaked down the right side and, just inside the faceoff circle, ripped a shot into the top corner. Roy continues to look comfortable at the NHL level.
It went to overtime where Cole Caufield spotted Nick Suzuki at a terrible angle nearly in a corner, but his shot was as good as a shot can get. It was one-timed and wired into the top corner from that bad angle. That’s 100 career goals for Suzuki. It’s his 25th goal of the season, and his 61st point in his 62nd game of the year as he tries for a point-per-game pace this season.
Other top players were Arber Xhekaj again, Joel Armia and Gallagher as Montreal continue to play strong hockey on this road trip.
Wilde Goats
Cole Caufield is learning how to become a more complete player, but it is slightly concerning that he has his longest goalless streak of the season alive. Caufield is now up to eight games without a goal.
Last season when Caufield was on a 45-goal pace before succumbing to shoulder surgery, the Canadiens had real hope that they had their first 40-goal scorer this century brewing. The year 1994, when Vincent Damphousse counted 40 goals, is a long time of frustration ago.
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Caufield may be the one to finally break that embarrassing streak of 29 years without a 40-goal scorer, but this season’s pace of 25 does not leave one all that confident that Caufield has that number in his game.
On the positive side, Caufield has topped out at a 16-per cent shooting level in his career, and usually obtains about 13 per cent, so this season’s eight per cent does leave room for improvement. It might just be that Caufield is a 30 to 35 goal scorer at best.
Time is on Caufield’s side considering he is only 23 years old, and his best hockey is truly still ahead of him. The hope is that next season, the top line can stay healthy, develop more chemistry, and put up superior numbers. Collectively, they are improving.
The Canadiens haven’t had a line that has scored 100 goals since Brian Bellows, Kirk Muller, and Damphousse in 1993 when they had a whopping 116 goals. The best chance this decade to duplicate that is Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky and Caufield.
Wilde Cards
Still no excitement for anyone this week as the trading deadline approaches. It’s been quiet. Blame the Flames-Stars trade of Chris Tanev as it set a new lower bar that no one was expecting. Now the battle is on between both sellers and buyers unsure of the new playing field.
Buyers are suddenly buoyed by the belief that they should not have to pay first-round draft picks for the best assets. Sellers are trying to regain their stronghold that had long been established for many deadlines that top-talent fetches a first-round pick or top prospects as a return.
The tug-of-war has been on all week, and at some point the GM of the Flames, Craig Conroy, will become known as having understood the marketplace best and changed it, or become known as the guy who got robbed.
GM Kent Hughes is happy to play the waiting game, and is quite fortunate that in this vague moment of unsteady terrain that he doesn’t have an important player who has to be traded now. If he had a top unrestricted free agent that he had to move and couldn’t, it would be an unhappy time.
However, all of his most important pieces have term. David Savard, Jake Allen, Mike Matheson, Joel Armia, or anyone else you can think of, Hughes can be patient for a clearer picture. The only player that would be a must trade is Tanner Pearson who has no term remaining.
Hughes may opt to simply keep Pearson because he needs players for his roster to complete the season. Pearson would fetch perhaps only a fifth-round draft pick, so that is a one-per cent chance that that pick becomes a regular NHL player. Hughes also subtly tells the other GMs by holding Pearson that he won’t accept a deal that he doesn’t like. Hughes can show his strength by not moving a poor offer.
One player who has recently been rumoured loudly in deals doesn’t fit the usual scenario. Jordan Harris seems to be in the rumour mill as a possible first defender to be dealt away. Hughes has 12 blue liners who can play in the NHL it is expected, and he has only six spots for them.
The deadline is Friday afternoon. The next trade could cause a flood of deals, if a strong asset returns a first-round pick. That would settle the market again at previous expectations. If the next deal weakens the sellers even more, the system will get clogged even more.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.
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