They were two players who wouldn’t have played if not for technicalities we don’t care to expand on much further, but held key roles in helping the Montreal Canadiens escape Calgary with a six-point lead in the standings and a precious game in-hand in the race for the final playoff spot in the North Division.
Oh, we’d go deep on the salary cap and roster implications that allowed the Canadiens to dress Jake Evans and Cole Caufield in the most important game of their season to date, but knowing you just had to watch one of the most pitiful and boring displays of hockey played since the dead-puck era, we’ll spare you that torture. Simply put, Jonathan Drouin was sick, Paul Byron was hurt and Alex Romanov was placed on the taxi squad to make room for Evans and Caufield to play under emergency circumstances, and play they did.
The two rookies brought energy to a team in desperate need of it, they enabled head coach Dominique Ducharme to return to a 12-forward, six-defencemen formation that he said was pivotal in matching Calgary’s exhausting style, and their impact was tangible throughout Monday's 2-1 win over the Flames.
The 20-year-old Caufield was anything but overwhelmed. He was a player Tyler Toffoli said got “more confident” and “more comfortable” with every shift, and one Canadiens captain Shea Weber thought stood up well along the boards against a Flames team that does so much to lock those areas down.
Ducharme was impressed.
“I like what Cole did,” he said. “I thought he was solid. He had a few shots, almost surprised the goalie once on the power play, created a rebound for Phil (Danault) in the first that was a prime-A (scoring chance), played the game the right way and played hard.”
Evans played it subtly, with perfect attention to detail on all 20 of his shifts, and he did so in a game that demanded it. A game where one mistake could prove devastating.
“Solid game,” Ducharme said in praise of the 24-year-old centre. “Small plays that sometimes you can’t see on the scoresheet but those little plays, when you pile them up at times, it makes a difference. That’s what we want to do as a team is piling up those small plays and, tonight, he was piling them up.”
In the process, Evans was proving himself an invaluable resource. One that shouldn’t fall victim again to the numbers game — even if it necessitates some difficult decisions moving forward. Because when the games matter most, Evans is a player the Canadiens can count on.
And we’ll say the same of Caufield, because this team doesn’t have more than one player like him, and it’s shown that over the last few weeks. That one player is Toffoli and, if not for the Scarborough, Ont., native who scored for a fourth straight game to notch his 25th of the season, the Canadiens would have even fewer wins than the four they’ve earned in the 12 games Brendan Gallagher has missed since April 6.
Sure, Gallagher will return for the playoffs — the Canadiens should feel much more assured they’ll participate in them than they did 24 hours ago — and he’ll do what he does. And Josh Anderson will continue to contribute as he has this season.
But who else outside of Toffoli has the pedigree to be a game-breaker? Caufield, that’s who.
(Jesperi Kotkaniemi / Instagram)
The diminutive winger, aptly nicknamed “Bilbo” (as in The Hobbit’s Baggins) by at least one of his new teammates, has built himself as one at every other level, and if you give him five shot attempts like he had in this game, more often than not he’s skating off the ice with at least a goal — and possibly one or two more.
To see the Wisconsin native play as confidently, given what was on the line Monday, was a testament to his preparedness. And even if management had created so many obstacles to finally getting him into a game, they do deserve some credit for getting him around the team early enough to get all the more acclimated to life in the NHL.
“I think being able to be with the guys for a while really helped my comfort level being with them,” Caufield said. “It’s a big part of transitioning to a new team and stuff, and especially the NHL. The guys have been unbelievable and they made this transition pretty easy. They’ve been nothing but the best to me, and it’s a great team in the room and I’m just really happy to be part of it.”
This group of veterans made him feel at home in having him take his traditional solo lap in warmup without a helmet on.
Caufield wore a grin that could light the sky — and not just before the game, but as it moved along, certainly as it wrapped and officialized his NHL arrival. Considering the pall the Canadiens have been under of late, it was refreshing.
“He’s just a kid and he’s just happy,” said Toffoli. “I feel like every time I’ve seen him he’s been almost too happy. It’s too nice, so I think he just had fun. It’s something he’s going to remember forever, and he’s only going to keep getting better and better.”
At least that process is finally underway.
And look what it’s done for Evans over the last year, enabling him to provide a spark when the Canadiens needed it most.
With nine games remaining, and Drouin and Byron presumably on the mend, who knows how the Canadiens will navigate the cap and the complex roster decisions they must make to keep both players playing. Thankfully, they don’t have to worry about any of that once playoffs begin. But for now, they should keep in mind why they’re a step closer to them.
