Who, besides Price, has been the hero for the Habs?
As the Habs gear up for game 4 against the Vegas Golden Knights, The Sick Podcast’s Tony Marinaro was joined by Stu Cowan from the Montreal Gazette to discuss the Canadiens’ 3-2 overtime win against the Knights in game 3.
Without a doubt, Carey Price was the first star of the game, stopping 43 out of 45 shots. That being said, he wasn’t the main topic of discussion for Marinaro and Cowan. Cole Caulfield, who has been incredible for the Habs so far, continues to live up to the hype, as he scored the Canadien’s first goal of the game after Nick Suzuki sent him on a breakaway. “He’s a goal scorer,” said Marinaro. “There’s a lot of players that would have got that breakaway last night and somehow put it in the goalie’s pads. Where does he put it? Up and over Marc-Andre Fleury.” Marinaro continued by making an early prediction. “Next season, Cole Caulfield is the rookie of the year in the NHL.” Stu Cowen didn’t argue with him. “He’s just a really good hockey player. Guys that size, they’ve been small their whole lives and they learn how to play like that. I think having Brendan Gallagher on the team is really going to help Cole Caulfield as well,” explained Cowen. “It’s still hard to believe that Caulfield was a healthy scratch in the first two games of the playoffs, but man has he looked good.”
Perhaps the most talked about moment of the night, however, was Josh Anderson’s tying goal, where Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury coughs up the puck, giving Anderson an open net to put the game at 2-2. “That’s one of the worst mistakes I’ve ever seen him make, and we are talking about one of the best clutch goalies of all time here,” said Marinaro.
The play also left Cowan, who was at the bell center when it happened, a little confused. “I don’t know what he was trying to do,” explained Cowan. “He was almost trying to play it between his legs, like who was he giving it to. There were so many simple options”.
Fleury returning to his hometown of Quebec was a big storyline before the series even started. His career numbers against the Canadiens weren’t great, and many wondered if the nerves of playing in Quebec would get the better of him. It seems like this might be the case, as Robin Lehner will get the start in goal for Vegas in place of Fleury for tonight’s game.
Marinaro and Cowen continued to discuss the importance of Paul Byron throughout the entirety of this year’s playoffs, seeing as he was placed on waivers three times this season. Marinaro even claimed that without Paul Byron, the Habs might not have made it out of round 1.
The Habs play their next game tonight at 8:00pm. To listen to the rest of the podcast, as well as stay up to date on what Tony Marinaro has to say, subscribe to the Sick Podcast on Youtube, and follow them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @thesickpodcasts.
