Canadiens Notes: Hope to Extend Hot Streak

The Montreal Canadiens are in Minnesota on Monday to face the Wild. The Wild are having an excellent season, currently trailing the Colorado Avalanche for the top spot of the NHL standings. The Canadiens proved last week that they can step up to the challenge of facing top teams. They’re currently on a three-game winning streak, defeating the Avalanche, the Vegas Golden Knights, and the red hot Buffalo Sabres.

Habs Notes

Here are some items to pay attention to in the final days before the Olympic break.

Cole Caufield is the team’s hottest player. He has 11 goals and three assists in last eight games. With the pair of goals scored against the Sabres on Saturday, Caufield tied Guy Lafleur’s record from 1979 of 13 goals in a single month.
His partner in crime Nick Suzuki is having a lot of success on the power play. Since the beginning of the season, he has 31 points with the man advantage. Only Connor McDavid and Leon Draisatl are ahead. He might have an important role for Canada at the upcoming Olympics.
Kirby Dach completed the team’s top duo in Buffalo. The club announced that Alexandre Texier is day‑to‑day with a lower‑body injury. Texier skipped Sunday’s practice, which makes it likely the team keeps him out against the Wild. Dach excelled on the first line and played a key role in the game‑winning goal with his forecheck behind the net.
Jakub Dobes has started the last three games and earned second star in all of them. With two games left before the Olympic break, Martin St. Louis faces a tough decision. Dobes has earned another start, but if Samuel Montembeault doesn’t play this week, he’ll go at least three weeks between appearances.
The coach also adjusted its defensive pairings. Mike Matheson and Kaiden Guhle handled the matchups against top lines, while Lane Hutson and Noah Dobson clicked on the second pair, combining for six points over the last two games.

Rocket Notes

The Laval Rocket wrapped up a six-game road trip with three games last week. First, the Calgary Wranglers (Flames) doubled up Laval 6-3 on Monday. Second, the Rocket squeaked in a 2-1 overtime win against the Syracuse Crunch (Tampa Bay Lightning) on Friday. Finally, Pascal Vincent’s squad headed to Toronto on Saturday and defeated the Marlies 3-2 in overtime.

The team concluded the road trip with 4-1-1 record and sit on top of the North Division. This week, the Utica Comets (New Jersey Devils) visit Place Bell on Wednesday, followed by a doubleheader against the Cleveland Monsters (Columbus Blue Jackets) starting on Friday.

Here are notes from recent games.

David Reinbacher missed all three games with an upper‑body injury and remains day‑to‑day after taking a hit on February 25 in Calgary.
Adam Engstrom is currently on a roll with four goals and two assists in the last four games. Two of those goals and one assist have been on the game winning goals. Engstrom is knocking on the door for another NHL opportunity.
Jared Davidson left Saturday’s game in the first period with an undisclosed injury after a fight with Dakota Mermis. If the name sounds familiar, Mermis also fought Florian Xhekaj during Xhekaj’s NHL debut at the Bell Centre.
Jacob Fowler started the final four games of the trip and earned first‑star on Saturday after stopping 26 shots.