MONTREAL — They were five minutes that made you forget that Dustin Wolf appeared poised to steal this game for his Calgary Flames.
But with the fans at Bell Centre surfing the wave of euphoria Cole Caufield’s third-period goal provided, Wolf’s first-period performance became a distant memory. As did the days over which the Montreal Canadiens’ lack of opportunism too often cost them games.
They were the days that defined the early portion of their rebuild, but the Canadiens have left them — and the rebuild — in the rearview mirror.
As coach Martin St. Louis said after this 4-1 win over Wolf’s Flames, “Historically, in the past, maybe two years ago, we would get impatient because we’d feel like we deserved more at the time.”
But times have changed, and that, as much as anything, was what was being celebrated by Canadiens fans who rose and fell from their seats and bellowed Ole, Ole, Ole in unison from the second after Caufield scored straight through a television timeout and right up until the Flames finally got a chance to enter Montreal’s zone.
They didn’t spend much time there because the Canadiens dominated the game and forced Wolf to conjure miracles until they finally broke him.
It wasn’t just Caufield; it was everyone. And that’s the thing about these Canadiens versus the ones who missed their best chances and lost more than they should’ve in much leaner years.
The feeling that a goal is coming now, no matter how many get kicked away by a hot goaltender, is prevailing because of their depth.
“I think that’s something that takes time,” said Caufield. “It takes a full locker room of guys to do, and I think we’re just building depth as we go forward. And every night it’s maybe somebody different…”
Like Alexandre Texier?
You know, the guy who couldn’t get into a game with the St. Louis Blues? The guy who’s now riding shotgun with Caufield and Nick Suzuki on the first line of one of the highest-scoring teams in the NHL.
It was Texier who broke through in the fourth minute of the second period to give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead Wednesday. Texier, who finished with a career-high three points and first-star honours.
We’re talking about a guy who was brought in a quarter of the way through for close to the league minimum, fresh out of a contract termination with his former team; a guy who was just supposed to fill a spot while injuries lingered for several key players; a guy who, despite posting four goals and 11 points and playing on three of four lines and both special teams units, could legitimately be fighting for a regular spot in the lineup if/when the Canadiens ever get back to full health.
The team had many problems before, but this is one of many good ones they face now — having so much offensive depth that players who can make the difference on any given night might find themselves watching the team on any given night.
The Canadiens also have three goaltenders winning games, while some have none that can win with regularity. On Wednesday, it was Jacob Fowler. On Thursday, it could be Samuel Montembeault or Jakub Dobes and either one of them will have a great chance to beat the Panthers if the Canadiens play like they did against the Flames.
“Our predictability, the balance we have on the ice, we’re very organized and it’s hard for one guy on the other team to check two if you have the spacing in between players,” said St. Louis.
“Tonight, we had our fastball,” he continued. “We were very connected, and we executed, and I felt like our balance was so good all over the ice that it was easy to execute because the passes were obvious.”
Lane Hutson, Mike Matheson, Noah Dobson and Alexandre Carrier made so many of them to facilitate transition from the backend.
But so did Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble, who played as well as they have all season with the threat of being removed from the lineup literally hanging over their heads.
If this was Kaiden Guhle’s last night in the press box before returning to take one of Xhekaj’s or Struble’s place, he was treated to a heck of a show. Especially right after Caufield’s 21st goal of the season broke the final piece off the wall Wolf had erected and sent the fans into a frenzy.
It was something to behold, even for St. Louis.
“I was too caught up in the moment to wonder what anybody was feeling at the time, and it’s hard not to (get caught up),” the coach said. “I feel like those are moments that you almost have to take it all in, and I’m sure a lot of guys do.”
St. Louis noted there were fewer of those than the Canadiens would’ve liked through the first half of the season.
They hadn’t played as well at home, but how they played most recently on the road helped give them the confidence to perform at the level they did on Wednesday.
Even after a great start went unrewarded, the Canadiens kept pushing.
“I feel that our defensive game had slipped a little bit (on the 4-1-2 season-long trip through Pittsburgh, Boston, New York, Florida, Carolina, St. Louis and Dallas), but we had great resiliency to come back and push through,” St. Louis said. “I think you have to do the same thing when it’s 0-0 and you feel like you should be winning.”
We think that comes easier to a team that has the experience, talent and depth to know it can beat anyone.
The Canadiens beat a Flames team they should beat, even if the Flames had come to town having won six of their last 10. But they picked apart Wolf, even after he made 14 saves in the first period and appeared unbeatable.
Hence the wave.
“I feel like our fans gave us the support back based on how we were performing,” said St. Louis. “I feel like we earned that time, and I took it all in. It’s special, and I hope for many more. We don’t take it for granted; we know we have to earn that, and I feel like we did that tonight.”
It was a night that made you forget about so many tough ones that preceded it over the last few years.
