Canadiens’ youngsters playing to extend opportunity for veterans
Caufield and the kids are going to play for the veterans who may not get a better chance to do it, and the Capitals will have to counter Montreal’s will to survive with a killer instinct.
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ARLINGTON, V.A. — Cole Caufield offered a used line from some old players he once ran to the Stanley Cup Final with.
“You only get so many chances to do this,” he said prior to this first-round series, and we’d imagine he’s thinking that as his Montreal Canadiens travel to Washington on the brink of elimination, down 3-1 to the Capitals.
He’s 24 years old, and this is just his second time in the playoffs. For Caufield and many of his younger teammates pushing the Canadiens through the next phase of their rebuild, the experience being gained right now is as valuable as anything.
But Caufield and his younger teammates aren’t just playing for experience — or themselves.
When Caufield was 20 years old, back in 2021, he was also playing for the veterans whose chances to chase the Stanley Cup were running out. He was playing for Carey Price and Shea Weber, who had never won it and, ultimately, would never get another chance, let alone a better one. He was playing for Eric Staal, who wanted one last crack at it, and for Corey Perry, who played like he may never get another one but has somehow expertly defied Father Time since.
And then there were Brendan Gallagher and Josh Anderson.
Those players were a bit younger then and played mammoth roles in that run.
The time Anderson and Gallagher have spent away from the playoffs since has made them the players Caufield and the kids are playing for now. Anderson and Gallagher sacrificed prime years of their career to shepherd their younger teammates through the first — and most laborious — steps of this rebuild, and paying them back for that has been a focus for the Canadiens this season.
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These two players also did more than their fair share of the heavy lifting over the last six months.
Anderson played through multiple injuries this season to help the Canadiens get back to the playoffs, and his impact in earning them a win and keeping them in the other three games of this series has been undeniable.
The 30-year-old has said on multiple occasions that this opportunity means the world to him.
Gallagher, Anderson’s 32-year-old linemate, has played like it — and not just in this series.
He put up 20 goals again for the first time in five years. He lost his mother, Della, to brain cancer in March but still participated in every single game for the first time since 2019, because he was desperate to make the playoffs and understood he might not have many more opportunities to do so while still being able to make as much of an impact.
When asked what the chance to keep playing these games meant to him during Monday’s video conference call, Gallagher said, “We missed this feeling, we missed this a lot.”
“We put in a ton of work just to get to this point and earn this opportunity, so it goes to show how hungry we are,” he added. “We’re down right now, we’re not out of it. This team’s going to keep fighting. It’s what it’s done all year. And there’s no doubt in my mind that that’s going to happen.”
A couple of weeks ago, when the Canadiens were in the final throws of their fight to make the playoffs, general manager Kent Hughes outlined why Gallagher should feel that way.
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Hughes talked about the Canadiens overcoming such long odds — not only at the beginning of the season when no one expected them to make it, but also after starting off 5-10-2, and again after digging themselves a hole going into the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off — and explained how they did it.
“I think there’s a family in that locker room,” Hughes said. “They’re playing for each other and not just for themselves.”
With the season on the line, you know the Canadiens will continue doing that.
They’ll be playing for Anderson and Gallagher, and for David Savard, who announced he’s retiring after this season.
The Capitals must know.
Coach Spencer Carbery will make sure they do, if they don’t already.
“If you just look at this team and the resilience and the post-4 Nations tournament and all the stuff that they’ve been through,” said Carbery on Tuesday, “you know exactly what type of game the Montreal Canadiens are going to play tomorrow night.”
They are going to play knowing you only get so many chances to do this.
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Caufield and the kids are going to play for the veterans who may not get a better chance to do it, and the Capitals will have to counter Montreal’s will to survive with a killer instinct.
“You do have to understand that it’s going to take our best to win a game and eliminate the Montreal Canadiens,” said Cabery. “We need a little bit more to push this team out of the fight, and that’s what it’s going to require tomorrow night. The killer instinct is going to come with understanding the level we need to play at to win a hockey game.”
Canadiens without Montembeault, possibly Carrier
Samuel Montembeault isn’t expected to play Game 5 after missing Game 4 due to an injury suffered a little more than halfway through Game 3.
The Canadiens’ starting goaltender stopped 69 of the 76 shots he faced before checking out of the series, and it remains unclear as to whether he’ll be able to check back in before it ends.
Montembeault hasn’t been on the ice since.
Alex Carrier, who left Game 4 following this hit from Capitals forward Tom Wilson, didn’t practise with the Canadiens Tuesday but is travelling with them to Washington.
Aliaksei Protas getting closer to return
The six-foot-six, 247-pound winger hasn’t played since suffering a laceration to his foot in a game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Apr. 4, but he was a full participant in practice Tuesday and could be a participant in this series for the first time in Game 5.
As a player who had 30 goals and 66 points in 76 games this season, Protas adds scoring to an already potent Capitals team. His size is also a huge addition to a very large forward group.
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But the Capitals need Protas most on the penalty kill, where they’ve given up five power-play goals to the Canadiens.
“He’s been a huge penalty killer for us all year, especially offensively,” Cabery said. “They do this stat of chances per 60 shorthanded, and I think he’s right up there in the league. He’s a big part of our penalty kill, so if and when he gets back, he’ll help that significantly.”
For players who have killed at least 100 penalty minutes this season, Protas ranks 14th in scoring chances per 60.
Teammate Nic Dowd explained how Protas generates them.
“He’s a smart player,” Dowd said. “He’s a headsy player, he’s got great hockey sense, has the ability to know where guys are. And obviously, his arms plus his stick has got to be close to nine feet.”
Defending Montreal’s power play a challenge since Patrik Laine’s removal
The Canadiens have gone four-for-nine on the power play over the last two games, and a big part of that was taking away their leading power-play scorer through the regular season.
Laine had 15 power-play goals, but hadn’t scored one in 12 games before exiting the series with an upper-body injury that currently has him listed as day-to-day.
With Laine out, fellow righty Caufield moved to the left flank, and lefty Ivan Demidov moved to the right flank, making the Canadiens’ power play far less predictable and more difficult to defend.
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“Demidov’s a lefty, so he adds a one-timer on that off-side as opposed to if you have (Nick) Suzuki or Caufield over there and you put Laine on the other side and they only have one one-timer on a flank,” Dowd said. “Now they have two one-timers on a flank, and I think that’s a different dynamic. They put a righty in the middle, and it’s an accessible play to go from Hutson down to Demidov on the flank to Suzuki in the middle. It’s lefty, lefty, righty as opposed to lefty, righty, righty, so it adds a different dynamic.”
Key Quotes
Gallagher, on coming back from down 3-1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2021:
“This situation is no different. We’re resilient. I’m sure we’ve been counted out by people outside our locker room more than once this year. We’ve gone through some tough stretches as a group, we’ve responded. This is no different. We’re facing the same challenge. The task can seem pretty daunting when you look at the big picture. But the small picture (is) we’ve got to go on the road and win one game and completely flip the momentum. You do that, you start to plant a little bit of doubt in their mind. The next one’s important, obviously. If you’re able to get that one, you’re really able to roll from there.”
Martin St. Louis, on coming back from down 3-1 three times as a player in the league and facing the situation for the first time as a coach:
“It’s not to say we have to win three games. No, no. We have to go get the momentum. It’s everything.”
Cabery, on the chance to eliminate the Canadiens:
“Tomorrow night, on home ice, I’m not worried about our guys overlooking or feeling overconfident in the moment. It’s not who we are as a team, and it never has been over the time that I’ve been here.”
Cabery, on what this means to him personally:
“I can tell you it means a lot to me, coaching (and being) in this league. I’ve never once taken it for granted. So pre-season game, regular-season game, playoff, winning a playoff series‚ it all to me is, I count my lucky stars every single day. I do not take this job of being in this league for granted for a second.
“I started in the East Coast League 15 years ago as an assistant coach. So it’s been a long journey. I’m the same exact person that I was in South Carolina. I’m a better coach, I feel like. But in terms of being thankful to be able to coach and be in this profession, every single day, I’m just very, very fortunate.”
Final notes
• Alex Ovechkin took a maintenance day Tuesday but will play Wednesday.
• Gallagher, Anderson and Savard did the same, and all of them are expected to play Game 5.
• No official line rushes at either practice, so we’ll see if Wednesday’s morning skate reveals any changes for either team.
