The 10-day break is over for the Montreal Canadiens.
Now, it’s time for the final stretch, which started with a 5-2 win over the Capitals in Washington. Samuel Montembeault was the star of the game as the Caps outplayed Montreal, but they struggled to finish their chances.
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The game was an outstanding start for the Canadiens as they caught the Caps still enjoying the All-Star Break in the first period. Montreal had a 7-1 shots on goal advantage early, and a two-goal lead.
All the offence came early from the team’s top line. They’re going to have to be great for the rest of the season, because they are basically all of the scoring talent that is left right now. Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Juraj Slafkovsky led the charge.
The opening goal was an absolute beauty as Caufield stole the puck at the blue line. He laid a perfect cross-ice saucer pass that landed right on the stick of Suzuki, who one-timed a shot into the top shelf.
Less than a minute later, it was the top line still on the ice for a second marker. Suzuki was in the corner where he jumped on a rebound from a bad angle. Former Canadiens goalie Charlie Lindgren didn’t look sharp on that tally.
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Caufield has points in 10 straight games. He has 13 points in that span. Ten games is a small sample size, but 13 points is a number that says that Caufield does have the ability to be a points-per-game player. Suzuki may have the ability as well. With a career high of 66 points, Suzuki is on pace for 74 this season.
It is just a matter of having some support. For the line to have these excellent numbers when the opposition can key on them is remarkable. Suzuki and Caufield face the best defenders and best forwards every single game. There is never any relief.
Now imagine a scenario where the second line is just as good in the future as the first line. That makes the Suzuki line better as well. This also makes the team significantly better.
Throw in a third and fourth line with some depth, and a player or two coming soon who can contribute offence, and you have a hockey team. The club will have to get healthy, for once, but this Montreal team competing is closer than it looks.
For now, enjoy watching the top-two scorers, and the first overall pick Slafkovsky as he grows his game on the top line, because contributions from others is an unexpected bonus.
For example, the Canadiens made it 3-0 on a shot from Michael Pezzetta for only his third goal of the season. That was it for Lindgren who was pulled for Darcy Kuemper. Lindgren allowed three goals on nine shots.
In the third period, the Canadiens put the game away with a 4-on-4 tally. It was Slafkovsky with a great drag move on a wrist shot from 15 feet. If that was a glimpse of the future for Slafkovsy, get the shades, it looks bright.
Five minutes later, it was the moment that everyone has been waiting for on the Canadiens power play. If Slafkovsky is going to put up big numbers as a pro, then he has to be able to one-time slap shots from the right side half-wall on passes from the defenceman.
It finally happened. Suzuki to Matheson, he looked left, then passed right. Slafkovsky wired the shot into the far corner. That’s nine on the year for Slafkovsky with two goals on the night. That is the type of moment that will lift even the most negative that the Canadiens may have drafted the right player at one overall.
It wasn’t just a goal for Slafkovsky. It was a breakthrough moment. It was a moment that showed it is there, and now he can begin to replicate it regularly. A curl and drag goal and a one-time slap shot goal for Slafkovsky. You can’t get better than that.
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The only issue is General Manager Kent Hughes asking himself just how many players he has to ship out to get a good losing streak going. Montreal is not making the playoffs, so a high draft pick would be the first order of business for the GM. However, they refuse to put a losing run together.
Hughes must be shaking his head in disbelief. Montreal is in the mix with five teams so close in points. The Canadiens could get a losing skid going to draft fifth, or this injury-riddled lineup could keep shocking to the upside to cause Montreal to draft 12th.
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Gone are Gallagher, Dvorak, Dach, Newhook, Monahan. Take away as many as you want, it doesn’t seem to matter as they refuse to lose touch with .500.
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The big event during the long break for the Canadiens was the trading of Sean Monahan to the Winnipeg Jets for a first-round draft pick in 2024. The pick will likely be at around the 25 mark which is a spot that has a 50-50 chance of landing an NHL player. It also has, at best, a five-per cent chance of landing a star.
While the math isn’t that outstanding that the drafted player will be a player that moves the needle, it is better than Monahan leaving for nothing as an unrestricted free agent.
Also, General Manager Kent Hughes has an opportunity to parlay the draft pick into another pick to trade for a stronger player. This is how Hughes acquired Alex Newhook from the Colorado Avalanche for two draft picks around the 30 mark.
All in all, Hughes has done an outstanding job getting two first-rounders for Monahan. He got a first rounder to take the large Monahan contract from the Calgary Flames, then got another to send him off to Winnipeg. That is remarkable asset management.
Hughes will continue to try to acquire more first-rounders as the deadline closes in on the eighth of March. He will likely look to deal David Savard and Jake Allen, and if the deal is right, many more could part. Hughes will attempt to acquire as much as a first for either Savard or Allen. It could be a difficult sell, but never write off this GM’s ability to find a needy suitor.
The Canadiens now have four first-round draft choices in the next two seasons. How they handle those four will decide how much longer this rebuild needs to continue. If they can acquire one of the top forwards in this draft like Ivan Demidov, Cole Eiserman, Cayden Lindstrom or Berkly Catton, the top six fills out much better than it is now.
Add one more forward to the mix through the draft, or possibly market all of the young left side strength on defence for more goals, and the future looks bright. All that is required, likely, is this year’s patience, and one more season. After that, the pieces should be in place ready to grow their games.
NEW YORK – Toronto Blue Jays reliever Chad Green and Canadian slugger Tyler O’Neill of the Boston Red Sox were named finalists for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association’s American League comeback player award on Monday.
Chicago White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet was the other nominee.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. were named player of the year finalists.
The award winners, selected via player voting, will be named Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series.
Green, who missed most of the 2022 and ’23 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was a high-leverage option for the Blue Jays this past season and filled in at closer over the second half of the campaign.
The right-hander converted his first 16 save opportunities and finished the year with a 4-6 record, 17 saves and a 3.21 earned-run average over 53 appearances.
O’Neill, a native of Burnaby, B.C., also endured back-to-back injury-plagued seasons in ’22 and ’23.
After being traded to the Red Sox in the off-season, O’Neill set an MLB record by hitting a homer in his fifth straight Opening Day. He finished with 31 homers on the year and had an OPS of .847.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
NEW YORK – Florida Panthers centre Sam Reinhart was named NHL first star of the week on Monday after leading all players with nine points over four games last week.
Reinhart had four goals, five assists and a plus-seven rating to help the Stanley Cup champions post a 3-0-1 record on the week and move into first place in the Atlantic Division.
New York Rangers left-winger Artemi Panarin took the second star and Minnesota Wild goaltenderFilip Gustavsson was the third star.
Panarin had eight points (4-4) over three games.
Gustavsson became the 15th goalie in NHL history to score a goal and had a 1.00 goals-against average and .962 save percentage over a pair of victories.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Deshaun Watson won’t finish the season as Cleveland’s starting quarterback for the second straight year.
He’s injured again, and the Browns have new problems.
Watson ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the first half of Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati, collapsing as he began to run and leading some Browns fans to cheer while the divisive QB laid on the ground writhing in pain.
The team feared Watson’s year was over and tests done Monday confirmed the rupture. The Browns said Watson will have surgery and miss the rest of the season but “a full recovery is expected.”
It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year after just six starts.
The 29-year-old went down Sunday without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson crumpled to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.
He immediately put his hands on his helmet, clearly aware of the severity of an injury similar to the one Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained last year.
As he was being assisted by the team’s medical staff and backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson grabbed a ball to begin warming up, there was some derisive cheers and boos from the stands in Huntington Bank Field.
Cleveland fans have been split over Watson, who has been accused of being sexually inappropriate with women.
The reaction didn’t sit well with several Watson’s teammates, including star end Myles Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, who was appalled by the fans’ behavior.
“We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. To be season-altering, career-altering injury,” Garrett said. “Man’s not perfect. He doesn’t need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can’t throw stones for my glass house.
“Ultimately everyone’s human and they’re disappointed just like we are, but we have to be better than that as people. There’s levels to this. At the end of the day, it’s just a game and you don’t boo anybody being injured and you don’t celebrate anyone’s downfall.”
Backup quarterback Jameis Winston also admonished the uncomfortable celebration.
“I am very upset with the reaction to a man that has had the world against him for the past four years, and he put his body and life on the line for this city every single day,” he said. “The way I was raised, I will never pull on a man when he’s down, but I will be the person to lift him up.
“I know you love this game. When I first got here, I knew these were some amazing fans, but Deshaun was treated badly and now he has to overcome another obstacle. So I’m going to support him, I’m going to lift him up and I’m going to be there for him.”
The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s tumultuous time with the Browns.
Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks and five overall to Houston in 2022 to get him, with owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam approving the team giving Watson a fully guaranteed, five-year $230 million contract.
With a solid roster, the Browns were desperate to find a QB who could help them compete against the top AFC teams.
The Browns had moved on from Baker Mayfield despite drafting him No. 1 overall in 2018 and making the playoffs two seasons later.
But Watson has not played up to expectations — fans have been pushing for him to be benched this season — and Cleveland’s move to get him has been labeled an abject failure with the team still on the hook to pay him $46 million in each of the next two seasons.
Watson’s arrival in Cleveland also came amid accusations by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions while he played for the Texans. Two grand juries declined to indict him and he has settled civil lawsuits in all but one of the cases.
Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games and fined $5 million for violating the league’s personal conduct policy before he took his first snap with the Browns. The long layoff — he sat out the 2021 season in a contract dispute — led to struggles once he got on the field, and Watson made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.
Cleveland signed veteran Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 as a starter and led the Browns to the playoffs.
Before Watson got hurt this year, he didn’t play much better. He was one of the league’s lowest-rated passers for a Cleveland team that hasn’t scored 20 points in a game and is back in search of a franchise QB.
