Cole Caufield sees his streak of games with at least one point end at 11 in a loss

After losing to the Stars the day before, the Canadiens were back in action this afternoon.

For the occasion, it faced the St. Louis Blues, Jake Allen’s former team.

In fact, he was the ex-officio.

Today’s lineup

Today’s lineup#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/gbFwqGGLIL

– Montreal Canadiens (@CanadiensMTL) February 11, 2024

Here’s the visitors’ lineup:

PROJECTED LINEUP – 2/11 @ MTL

Buchnevich – Thomas – Kyrou
Neighbours – Schenn – Kapanen
Saad – Hayes – Blais
Toropchenko – Sundqvist – Walker

Leddy – Parayko
Krug – Kessel
Scandella – Rosen

Jordan Binnington

– STL Blues Now (@stlbluesnow) February 11, 2024

Right from the start, St. Louis broke the ice.

Alexey Toropchenko scored on the first shot.

Toropchenko with a beauty

pic.twitter.com/wknrvsx3v9

– Everything Hockey (@EHClothing) February 11, 2024

And on the third shot, the visitors doubled their lead.

Colton Parayko took advantage of traffic in front of the net to foil his former teammate.

86mph+ #stlblues pic.twitter.com/vy4YlPX0A7

– St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) February 11, 2024

The door opened for the Habs moments later, however.

Jordan Harris was heavily hit by Samuel Blais, who was ejected from the game.

Sammy Blais received a 5 minute major and a game misconduct for this play on Jordan Harris. Thoughts?
pic.twitter.com/FFmy5xqzFa

– Everything Hockey (@EHClothing) February 11, 2024

A five-minute numerical advantage.

Montreal took advantage, but the goal won’t count as a power play officially. Indeed, after the penalty, the Blues continued to play 4-on-5 because they hadn’t sent a player to the dungeon.

Nick Suzuki didn’t need much to score his 17th of the season. It was the third consecutive game in which he scored his team’s first goal.

A perfect pass by Juraj Slafkovsky finds Nick Suzuki.

The #GoHabsGo top line is cooking.

Interestingly, the Blues didn’t put anyone in the box, so they had to play shorthanded for a little longer. Have never seen that before. pic.twitter.com/TUEgQK7hlB

– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) February 11, 2024

What a pass from Juraj Slafkovsky on the sequence!

At the end of the period, however, our opponents regained a two-goal lead.

On the power play, Jordan Kyrou made it 3-1.

Jordan Kyrou only needed six seconds of PP time to light the lamp. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/dqXfAFl53A

– St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) February 11, 2024

The second period was played at breakneck speed.

The Habs seemed to be heading to the locker room behind by two, but Nathan Walker scored his team’s fourth goal.

Nathan Walker takes Schenn’s pass and rips one home to put the Blues up by 3 at the end of the 2nd! #STLBlues pic.twitter.com/Qbgl6aTVak

– Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) February 11, 2024

4-1 Blues after 40 minutes.

In the opening seconds of the third period, St. Louis foiled Allen for the fifth time. Another power-play goal…

Another penalty ends up with a goal against the Habs.

The lack of discipline is brutal. And it’s been an issue all season.

Allen continues to refuse to set himself before shots today. Not sure what he’s doing, but he keeps moving and he knows better. pic.twitter.com/e2U9Z2dqTL

– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) February 11, 2024

A difficult start for the 34, who eventually stopped 29 of the 36 shots he faced.

The Habs added a goal, but it was too little too late.

#GoHabsGo defenseman David Savard banks his shot off Joel Armia, cutting the Blues lead to 5-2. pic.twitter.com/4FFxTmQfXC

– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) February 11, 2024

As the match drew to a close, tempers flared. First, Kaiden Guhle was slammed solidly against the rail.

He looked in bad shape.

Guhle leaves the game after this hit. He was in significant pain. The Habs have the worst injury luck in the history of sports.

Didn’t look like there was anything wrong with the hit, but the stick may have bruised some ribs, hard to tell. pic.twitter.com/e4PiKo99UI

– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) February 11, 2024

And Johnathan Kovacevic fought Jake Neighbours.

He taught him a lesson. However, he prevented Montreal from scoring…

Jake Neighbours wanted a fight and Kovacevic fed him his lunch pic.twitter.com/8tydmbhCIi

– Scott Matla (@scottmatla) February 11, 2024

Final score: 7-2. The Blues scored two more goals for the touchdown and the one-point conversion. In defeat, Cole Caufield did not collect a point. His streak of games with at least one point now stands at 11.

Now it’s time for the Super Bowl!

On Tuesday, Montreal returns to action at the Bell Centre against the Ducks.