The Leafs dominated the Habs tonight, outshooting them 27 to 21 and getting four pucks behind Sam Montembeault for a 4-1 victory.
The result of the game is not all that unsurprising as the Canadiens have been in freefall for much of the season already.
The Leafs haven't exactly had the greatest start themselves, but tonight's victory does move them to 9-5-2, with a four-point lead over the Boston Bruins for second place in the Atlantic Division. The Panthers remain in the lead with 23 points and a game in hand on Toronto.
The real storyline coming from the game though has nothing to to with the standings. We haven't even gotten to American Thanksgiving yet after all. Rather, Cole Caufield caught the attention of fans online after someone in attendance spotted an interesting detail about his stick.
Most players have their last names printed on their sticks so everyone knows who it belongs to. However, Caufield's stick read, "ELOC," which of course, is Cole backwards. This was the nickname given to him by the late Johnny Gaudreau.
Many fans will not be surprised to see Caufield honoring Johnny Hockey again this season. After all, Caufield changed his number to 13 before this season started in honor of his friend.
The Habs forward seems to be putting in that extra effort this season as well, possibly in part to honor Johnny. Through 15 games, he leads the Habs with 10 goals. In fact, the team has yet to win a game this season when he doesn't score.
That is both an indictment of how poorly the team has been playing, but also of how strong Caufield's start to the campaign has been.
Maybe its just that old lucky number 13. Whatever it is, hopefully he can keep it up and set some new scoring records for the team.
POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 9 | 132 ANSWERS Cole Caufield Once Again Honours Hero Johnny Gaudreau With Beautiful Gesture Are you surprised to see Cole Caufield using the nickname Johnny Hockey gave to him on his sticks? | ||
Yes | 51 | 38.6 % |
No | 81 | 61.4 % |
LIST OF POLLS |
G | A | PTS | ||
Zachary Werenski | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
Sean Monahan | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
Jesper Bratt | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
Frederick Gaudreau | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
Jack Hughes | - | 3 | 3 | |
Nikita Kucherov | - | 3 | 3 | |
Mackenzie Weegar | - | 3 | 3 | |
Kent Johnson | 2 | - | 2 | |
Alexander Wennberg | 2 | - | 2 | |
Mitchell Chaffee | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Anthony Cirelli | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Matthew Coronato | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Marcus Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Nick Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Conor Geekie | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Brandon Hagel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Stefan Noesen | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Corey Perry | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Igor Sharangovich | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Dmitry Voronkov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Complete stats |
STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 19 | 16 | 3 | - | 32 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
Conference | Cumulative |