The Calgary Flames held a players-only meeting on Friday afternoon trying to figure out why they aren’t up to the standards that they expected for themselves.
That type of self-reflection usually means that a team is going to come out hungry and fired up, trying to prove that the meeting was worth something. It’s a moment where the players are trying to create a turning point for themselves. The Montreal Canadiens had to respond to that intensity looking to make it eight straight with at least a point in the standings. The Flames, though, were true to their word that they would be better, shutting out the Canadiens 2-0.
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Wilde Horses
The Canadiens had a sluggish first period, but after that they were strong. They poured on pressure. They had a lot of shots with 37. They had most of the possession. They have scored at will most of this season leading the league in goals. However, it’s simply unrealistic to believe that there won’t be nights that the puck just does not roll your way, or that a goalie like Jacob Markstrom won’t be hot and shut you down. That’s just the way sports goes, and this night had to come. It’s actually a testament to how good the Canadiens are that they have been in every single game this season. They were in this one too, but you can’t keep a shooting percentage in the high teens all season. You can’t always find the back of the net. You can’t always find the goalie to be off his game. There is no reason to panic here. The Canadiens were strong the final 40 minutes, and sometimes the puck just does not go in. No one really stood out as a horse considering nothing was ever completed with a measure of success, but everyone had a fairly solid game – that includes Jake Allen. Let’s just leave it at some nights it just doesn’t come together no matter what your talent or what your work rate.
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Wilde Goats
Josh Anderson left the game late in the first period and did not return. It seems early in this season judging by the fact that he is leaving the game, sometimes to return and sometimes not, that Anderson is nursing a nagging injury this season already. Anderson has had a shoulder injury that he said was behind him. It’s important to take note here that there is no evidence whatsoever that Anderson has a shoulder ailment. He has been able to shoot effectively as well. Twitter is alight with people worrying it is his shoulder. We have seen no evidence of it. Not saying it is or it is not, but he can shoot the puck and he has not laboured with his shoulder at all. However, it is disappointing that he is in and out of the line-up so far. Hopefully, it is not anything serious.
Earlier this season, there was 2:28 left in a game when the Canucks Tyler Myers blindsided Joel Armia concussing the Canadiens forward who still has not returned to the line-up. The Department of Player Safety ruled that there would be no supplementary discipline saying that the first point of contact was not the head. Fast forward to Dillon Dube hitting Jesperi Kotkaniemi directly in the head on another blindside hit. On this occasion, there wasn’t even a penalty on the play to Dube. The hit was treated as if it was completely legal. When they ruled on the Myers hit, it was a tough argument to win based on the law that the DOPS was right that it was not direct to the head. You may not like the rule, but that is the rule. On this hit, it was direct to the head.
In fact, Dube didn’t hit Kotkaniemi anywhere else beside the head. Here’s the problem. It’s not the rule per se. It’s not that they missed the Kotkaniemi getting hit in the head per se. The problem is attitude. No one truly cares. The league likes predatory hits. The announcer on Hockey Night In Canada was actually gleeful about the hit. He was celebrating the hit. He didn’t consider for a second that it was a problem hit. The league will treat it the same way. Myers wasn’t a head shot. Fine they said. Kotkaniemi was a head shot. Fine they’ll say. They are not interested in protecting brains. It’s a league that has sanctioned fighting. It’s a league that has head shots ignored by two refs and celebrated by announcers. Kotkaniemi already has suffered a concussion that left him out of hockey for three weeks in December of 2019. It appears that he has avoided a concussion this time. Hopefully.
Effects of a head shot like this can come tomorrow or the next day. The effects of a scrambled brain do not have to be immediate. We shall wait in hope that he survives this healthy. We shall not wait in hope that the NHL will discipline yet another head shot.
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Trailing 1-0 late in the second period, the Canadiens had a 3-on-1 shorthanded. This appeared to be the chance for the tie. Philip Danault had the puck and a clean look from 15 feet. He fired it off the glass. The shot was so high and wide it was difficult to tell from a TV angle which of the top corners he was even going for on the shot. It was simply abysmal. A shot on net here seems a prerequisite. Honestly, a cross-crease pass for a much higher quality chance seems like something pros who want more than 5 million dollars per season should come up with. Danault better be careful. He’s the third best centre in possession on the team now.
He is not the go-to-guy that he once was on this team. Kotkaniemi and Nick Suzuki are significantly higher this season than Danault in Expected Goals Percentage, though the sample size admittedly is still on the small side. If Danault is worth 6 million, then what are Suzuki and Kotkaniemi worth? And where is all of that money going to come from in a tight salary cap world, if you are putting 22 million into your top three centres? Careful Philip. 6 million dollar players don’t put it off the glass on a 3-on-1 and they are not third among centres in possession on their own team.
Wilde Cards
It’s already time for another Cole Caufield update as he is absolutely owning the ice right now in the NCAA. Caufield was unstoppable this weekend against Michigan State as the Wisconsin Badgers won 6-1 and 4-1 to complete a sweep.
Caufield had a four point game on Saturday afternoon with two goals and two assists. One of the assists was unstoppable for a defender on a two-on-one. Caufield had the shot lined up throughout the attack rush, so the defender had to respect that option as he backed up. We all know about Caufield’s lightning quick shot, but suddenly, we see a lightning quick pass. His hands were so rapid on this pass, it was not defendable. It was a wide open net for the Badgers first goal of the day.
Caufield then scored on the power play on a pass cross-crease that he unleashed with a one-timer. Here’s how to grade that shot: If he gets it off quickly, but it’s along the ice, many NHL goalies will get across in time to make the save. If he gets it off quickly, but it’s halfway up the goal in height there are still many NHL goalies who will make that save. An NHL goalie will have as a plan trying to be as big as they can be in the chest area while covering off the bottom of the goal. However, if Caufield gets that shot off just under the bar with pinpoint accuracy, there is not a goalie in the world that can make that save. Modern goaltending gives you under the crossbar taking the easier shot locations away. Caufield put it just under the bar. Caufield has such accuracy that he is going to love modern goaltending.
One of his assists and one of his goals Saturday were simply unstoppable at an NHL level. At a college level, it’s men versus boys.
Caufield’s statistics are as if he were playing in the high-scoring Quebec league. College hockey is defensive. Big point totals are hard. Caufield has seven goals in his last five games. His season totals are stunning with 14 goals, 14 assists for 28 points in only 18 games.
Caufield is a more complete player this season. His vision is better. His stick is better. His speed is better. He has to be in the Hobey Baker conversation as the best college player in the United States. He’s having an outstanding season. He is doing so well that it’s going to be interesting to see what he can do at the American Hockey League level as soon as this spring.
— Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.
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