Canadiens Game Day: Here’s looking at you, kid — Caufield scores in OT

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Cole Caufield was 2 years old when Eric Staal and Corey Perry were both selected in the first round of the 2003 NHL Draft.

On Saturday night, the two veterans were Caufield’s teammates when the 20-year-old scored his first NHL goal — and what a goal it was.

Just over two minutes into overtime, Caufield spotted open ice as he crossed the blue line and sped toward the net, taking a perfect pass from Jeff Petry and putting a shot past Ottawa Senators goalie Filip Gustavsson for a 3-2 Canadiens victory.

If there had been fans in the Bell Centre, they might have blown the roof off the place.

Here’s how Caufield described the goal:

“It was a pretty quick regroup in the neutral zone and Jeff got in the zone pretty quick. I was just skating as fast as I could back door and yelling for it and he put it right on my stick. It was a big goal for us and it was one of the best in my life.”

After being mobbed by his teammates, Staal whispered something in Caufield’s ear while Perry went to get the puck out of the net as a special souvenir.

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“Those guys are legends,” Caufield said. “I was talking to my parents the other day about how cool it is just to be in the same locker room and the same team as those guys. You grow up watching them. They’re such unbelievable people and they’ve been so great to me. They just told me to enjoy it. They remember their first (goals). It’s a big moment in your life and to have those guys with me it’s pretty unbelievable and, for sure, a moment I’ll never forget.”

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Caufield will also never forget the reaction of his teammates when he went into the locker-room after doing a postgame TV interview.

“We were all waiting for him and we gave him the silent treatment,” Petry said. “I’ve seen it in years past with other guys walking in, not saying a word and let him sit there. He was kind of looking around a little confused and then everyone broke out and congratulated him.”

“I didn’t really know what to expect,” Caufield said about the locker-room reaction. “I didn’t see it coming. But the guys have been great to me. I couldn’t be happier with the reaction after the silent treatment. It’s all pretty surreal right now.”

Petry and Tyler Toffoli also scored for the Canadiens, while goalie Cayden Primeau stopped 21 of the 23 shots he faced. Caufield’s goal capped a perfect weekend for the Canadiens at the Bell Centre, following Friday night’s 5-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets. The Canadiens came back from 2-0 deficits both nights.

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The Canadiens continue to hold the fourth and final playoff spot in the all-Canadian North Division with a 23-18-9 record and they moved within two points of the third-place Jets (27-20-3). The Canadiens got more good news when the fifth-place Calgary Flames lost 4-1 to the Edmonton Oilers late Saturday night. The Canadiens are now eight points ahead of the Flames with six games remaining in the regular season for both teams.

“Really happy … happy for the kid, for sure,” Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme said about his team’s victory and Caufield’s OT goal. “It’s special to be scoring your first NHL goal in overtime. But happy for the team, too. It’s a big win. We were resilient, we played with attitude and character and that’s something that we talked about in the last few days that we want to carry on. So I like the way we reacted and it was a happy ending for everyone.”

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The Petry Factor

No player on the Canadiens seems to have a bigger impact on the team than Petry.

When Petry plays well, the Canadiens play well. When Petry struggles, the Canadiens struggle.

Petry’s goal was his first in 23 games. He added an assist on Caufield’s goal and now has five points in the last four games with the Canadiens posting a 3-1-0 record.

For the second straight game, Petry had an extra workload because captain Shea Weber was absent with a lower-body injury. Petry logged a team-high 24:05 of ice time with four shots, three hits and was plus-2.

“Obviously, he’s a big part of our team,” Petry said about Weber. “It’s important when a guy is hurt and is out of the lineup that guys step up. I’ve unfortunately experienced it with Shea out before, so it’s a matter of I think just elevating my game, picking and choosing when to jump in the play. I felt the last two games I’ve just been skating better, being up in the play. I think just playing my game and the style of play that for a little stretch there I kind of got away from. Just a matter of refocusing and knowing that with him out it’s going to be important for all of us to step up.

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“We play our game, we play our style, our fate’s in our hands,” Petry added. “Credit to us tonight. Going down 2-0 again and finding a way to battle back and I think that effort and the effort last night just shows that we’re willing to put in whatever it takes here to make sure that we control our destiny.”

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The Suzuki Factor

Nick Suzuki picked up an assist to extend his point streak to five games during which he has 4-3-7 totals. Suzuki also went 8-3 in the faceoff circle against the Senators (73 per cent).

Suzuki now ranks third on the Canadiens in scoring with 12-22-34 totals, trailing Toffoli (27-13-40) and Petry (12-25-37).

“I think the last couple of weeks I’ve found a better game,” Suzuki said. “Dom’s been on me to bring that competitive edge every game and I think I’ve been bringing that lately. It’s turned into some production, but we still have a few games left and I need to bring that for the rest of them.”

Ducharme was asked what it was that he told Suzuki.

“He’s a really smart player and he doesn’t need to try to over-smart the game because it’s natural for him,” the coach said. “He’s good when he’s competitive. And that means, for me, when he’s moving his feet, when he gets on pucks quick, when he steals pucks from the opponents, when he’s playing with pace and when he’s got that competitive side. He’s got that inside of him and that’s when you see him playing at his best and that’s what he’s doing right now.”

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Kulak gets back in lineup

Ducharme made two changes to his lineup following Friday night’s win over the Jets with Primeau starting in goal and Brett Kulak replacing Erik Gustafsson on defence.

Goalie Jake Allen had played in 12 of the previous 14 games and deserved a rest, while Kulak had been a healthy scratch for the previous six games.

“I just kind of took it day by day and just keep preparing myself the same and make sure I’m ready for when the team calls on me to contribute what I do,” Kulak said after Saturday’s optional morning skate in Brossard.

Kulak was bumped down the depth chart after Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin acquired Gustafsson from the Philadelphia Flyers and Jon Merrill from the Detroit Red Wings before the NHL trade deadline.

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“When we brought them in — I know about the players, I’ve played against them before and watched them quite a bit and they’re both really good players,” Kulak said. “They’ve been really good acquisitions for us to have and that depth and experience is always nice. I’m looking forward to getting back in the lineup, though, and I’ll be ready to go.”

Kulak was on the third defence pairing with Merrill Saturday night, logging 15:23 of ice time and he played a solid game. In 40 games this season, Kulak has 1-6-7 totals and is plus-7 while averaging 15:47 of ice time.

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Some stats

The Canadiens outshot the Senators 39-23, outhit them 27-24 and won 64 per cent of the faceoffs. The Canadiens went 1-for-3 on the power play and the Senators went 0-for-2.

Petry led the Canadiens in ice time with 24:05, followed by Ben Chiarot with 21:49 and Alexander Romanov with 21:32. Suzuki led the forwards with 19:13 of ice time, followed by Phillip Danault with 18:34 and Toffoli with 17:56.

Toffoli had a team-leading six shots, while Josh Anderson had five. Chiarot and Petry had both had four shots.

Artturi Lehkonen had five hits, while Anderson, Danault and Petry had three each.

Suzuki went 8-3 on his 11 faceoffs (73 per cent), Danault went 11-5 (69 per cent), Staal went 5-3 (63 per cent) and Jake Evans went 5-5 (50 per cent).

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Belzile, Poehling join taxi squad

The Canadiens announced Saturday morning that forwards Ryan Poehling and Alex Belzile have been reassigned from the AHL’s Laval Rocket and will join the team’s taxi squad.

Poehling is leading the Rocket in scoring this season with 11-14-25 totals in 28 games, while Belzile has 3-8-11 totals in 14 games.

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What’s next?

The Canadiens will wrap up their four-game home stand Monday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).

After that, the Canadiens hit the road for three games. They will visit the Senators on Wednesday (7 p.m., SN, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM), followed by back-to-back games against the Maple Leafs on Thursday (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM) and next Saturday (7 p.m., CBC, CITY, SNE, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).

Following that road trip, the Canadiens will return home to play their final two regular-season games against the Oilers on Monday, May 10 (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM) and Wednesday, May 12 (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).

scowan@postmedia.com

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