It was a matchup between two teams who aren't playing for much other than pride this season. Still, the game between the Montreal Canadiens and Columbus Blue Jackets didn't come without controversy.
It was a back and forth game with both teams managing to score 3 goals each, but what led to the game-winning goal by Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki has Blue Jackets head coach Dean Evason hot under the collar.
Here's the goal in question. At the very first of the video, you can see Columbus's Kent Johnson fall to the ice before the Canadiens turn the play around and score the game-winning goal.
Dean Evason was furious following the game, saying officials should have called Suzuki for pulling down Johnson.
The Blue Jackets, who were recently linked to a trade involving a former 75-point player, dropped to 9-9-3 on the season with the OT loss. Montreal, who recently had a failed multi-player trade revealed by insider Tony Marinaro is now 8-11-3.
Dean Evason is a passionate guy, and coaches will always stick up for their teams when they feel they've been wronged. I'm not convinced Evason has a point on this one, though.
It looks to me like Kent Johnson lost his footing, with no help needed from Nick Suzuki on the play. Evason is doing what NHL head coaches do, but this seems like a big pile of nothing.
POLL | ||
2 HOURS AGO | 15 ANSWERS Columbus Blue Jackets Head Coach Blasts Officials After Loss to the Montreal Canadiens Last Night Do you agree or disagree with Dean Evason's assessment of the play that led to Nick Suzuki scoring to overtime winner? | ||
G | A | PTS | ||
Taylor Hall | 3 | - | 3 | |
Brayden Point | 3 | - | 3 | |
Brock Nelson | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
Bryan Rust | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
Pavel Zacha | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
Quinn Hughes | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
Carter Verhaeghe | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
Erik Karlsson | - | 3 | 3 | |
Elias Lindholm | - | 3 | 3 | |
David Pastrnak | - | 3 | 3 | |
Tim Stutzle | - | 3 | 3 | |
Adam Gaudette | 2 | - | 2 | |
Dylan Holloway | 2 | - | 2 | |
Brad Marchand | 2 | - | 2 | |
Aleksander Barkov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Sam Bennett | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Sean Couturier | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Alex DeBrincat | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Jack Drury | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Cutter Gauthier | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Complete stats |
STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 23 | 18 | 5 | - | 36 | |
Hurricanes | 22 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 33 | |
Wild | 22 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 32 | |
Devils | 25 | 15 | 8 | 2 | 32 | |
Capitals | 22 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 31 | |
Golden Knights | 23 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 31 | |
Maple Leafs | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Flames | 23 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 28 | |
Panthers | 23 | 13 | 9 | 1 | 27 | |
Kings | 23 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 27 | |
Conference | Cumulative |