Canadiens Game Day: Habs call up Cole Caufield from Laval Rocket
Caufield #Caufield
The Canadiens announced Friday morning that they have called up forward Cole Caufield from the AHL’s Laval Rocket and put him on the taxi squad.
The Canadiens play the Calgary Flames Friday night at the Bell Centre (6 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).
The Canadiens have also called up goalie Cayden Primeau from the Rocket on an emergency basis, which means Carey Price is probably not ready to return to the lineup. Price has missed the last five games with a lower-body injury.
Coach Dominique Ducharme will speak with the media on video conference after Friday’s morning skate, which started at 10 a.m. Caufield and defenceman Ben Chiarot will also speak with the media after the morning skate, which suggests Chiarot will return to the lineup against the Flames after missing the last 15 games with a fractured hand.
Caufield was on the fifth line at Friday’s morning skate with Jake Evans and Michael Frolik, which suggests he won’t be in the Canadiens’ lineup against the Flames. Chiarot was paired with Shea Weber at the morning skate.
In two games with the Rocket since leaving the University of Wisconsin, Caufield had 3-1-4 totals, including two game-winning goals.
The Canadiens selected the 5-foot-7, 170-pound right-winger in the first round (15th overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft.
In 31 games this season with Wisconsin, Caufield posted 30-22-52 totals to lead the NCAA in goals and points and he won the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in U.S. college hockey.
The Canadiens are holding down the fourth and final playoff spot in the all-Canadian North Division with an 18-13-9 record, but they are 1-4-0 in their last five games and have been struggling to score with only nine goals during that five-game span. The Canadiens have also been struggling on the power play, going 2-for-25 in the last nine games.
The Flames, who are in fifth place in the North Division and have won their last three games, have moved within four points of the Canadiens with a 19-21-3 record. The Canadiens hold three games in hand on the Flames.
The Flames have a 4-1-0 record against Montreal this season and have won the last three games against the Canadiens while limiting them to three goals. The Flames beat the Canadiens 4-1 Wednesday night at the Bell Centre.
The Flames have four games remaining against the Canadiens, including Friday night.
This Game Day notebook will be updated.
The lines
Here’s how the Canadiens’ forward lines and defence pairings looked at Friday’s morning skate:
Tatar – Danault – Byron
Drouin – Kotkaniemi – Anderson
Toffoli – Suzuki – Armia
Lehkonen – Staal – Perry
Frolik – Evans – Caufield
Chiarot – Weber
Edmundson – Petry
Romanov – Kulak
What’s next?
The Canadiens will wrap up their six-game home stand Saturday afternoon at the Bell Centre against the Ottawa Senators (4 p.m., TSN2, TSN5, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).
Next week, the Canadiens head to Western Canada for a five-game road trip. They will play the Edmonton Oilers on Monday (9 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM) and Wednesday (10 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM) before heading to Calgary to play the Flames on Friday (9 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM), Saturday (7 p.m., CITY, SNE, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM) and the following Monday (6:30 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).
scowan@postmedia.com
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