All in all, the Habs played a solid game last night against the Chicago Blackhawks, despite a quiet start.
Martin St-Louis’ team woke up after Jayden Struble’s showdown.
Two points were added to the Habs’ record, and they are now three points out of the playoffs.
It’s pretty impressive to see the Tricolore so close to a playoff spot, despite all the injuries and the current lineup, which is pretty shaky.
Let’s just say that the Habs really don’t need any more injuries right now.
So it’s only natural that we’re quick to worry when we see Cole Caufield retreat to the locker room and miss a few appearances, even though he’s finally back on the bench.
Cole Caufield is back on the bench for the #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/wv7MsNsS5M
– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 23, 2023
Caufield looked pretty bad after his contact with Hawks defender Isaak Phillips.
He retreated to the bench with some difficulty, which is never good to see.
With his shoulder operation last summer, it’s clear that we’re concerned whenever we see the young free-scorer bothered by pain of any kind and miss a few appearances.
Let’s hope it’s more fear than harm, given that Caufield was able to get back into the game and even pick up an assist on Nick Suzuki’s third-period goal.
In Caufield’s absence, Jesse Ylönen and Emil Heineman got starts on the first line, and both looked good.
Ylönen looked very good, picking up an assist on Juraj Slafkovsky’s goal.
#GoHabsGo Juraj Slafkovsky scores a goal in back-to-back games. Good net-front presence to score this one.
Ylonen is looking good on that top line while Caufield is gone.
Habs lead 3-2. pic.twitter.com/CLQyMm9Kju
– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 23, 2023
I’ll say it again, but Jesse Ylönen really deserves a chance in the top-6 right now, especially with all the injuries.
Giving him more ice time wouldn’t cost Martin St-Louis anything. He was on the ice for 12 minutes and 30 seconds last night.
The same goes for Emil Heineman, who played less than six minutes in his NHL debut Thursday night in Minnesota.
It was better yesterday, when St-Louis played Heineman for 9 minutes and 43 seconds.
In short, the numerous injuries should give the youngsters a good chance to make their mark.
Coming back to Caufield, let’s hope he’ll be okay, and that the Christmas break will allow him to recover to 100%.
In Squall
– Not to be missed today.
Watch Canada take on USA in #WorldJuniors pre-tournament action LIVE on TSN1/4 at 12:00 PM ET. https://t.co/ErpzAgefCj
– TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 23, 2023
– Wow.
Nathan MacKinnon during this 17 game point streak he’s on:
-Playing 23:28 per game
-12 goals
-21 assists
-75 shots on goal
-10 penalties drawn vs. 1 taken
– Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) December 22, 2023
– What do you know.
A true beer league nightmare…
Do you have any beer league horror stories? 
– BarDown (@BarDown) December 23, 2023
– Movement on the Minnesota Wild staff.
The Wild said in a statement last week that they took steps to appropriately address the matter. Guerin remains in his post as President of Hockey Operations/GM
Original storyhttps://t.co/IOV643U0Dj
– Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) December 23, 2023
– The former Devils and Panthers star is having fun in the KHL.
Point streak: extended
Nikita Gusev scores points in 11th straight game. pic.twitter.com/in8CaL6NDY
– KHL (@khl_eng) December 23, 2023
– To be continued.
The 29-year-old’s versatility would be an asset in Toronto. https://t.co/RMPmuW8d2U
– Passion MLB (@passion_mlb) December 23, 2023
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