DETROIT | Martin St-Louis had a ticket to visit Little Caesars Arena hidden in his deck. For the first time this season, he separated his dynamic duo of Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield in a 3-2 overtime win against the Red Wings.
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Caufield and Suzuki didn’t sulk despite the changes. Number 22 scored the winning goal in overtime with a stupid penalty against goalkeeper James Reimer. Suzuki, on the other hand, hit the target, also with numerical superiority.
CH has three wins in overtime this season. All three times Caufield decided the debate.
“Yeah, I scored the goal in overtime, but Cayden [Primeau] was our best player tonight. He was the one who made the big save [contre Alex DeBrincat] “just before my goal,” said the young striker modestly.
There is nothing eternal in life. Even less so in ice hockey. Looking for a spark after four straight losses (0-3-1), St-Louis relied on Suzuki in the middle of his front row with Alex Newhook to his left and Josh Anderson to his right.
Caufield, normally the number 14’s accomplice, was on the left side of the second unit with Christian Dvorak and Juraj Slafkovsky.
Before visiting Michigan, Suzuki had spent more than 142 minutes on the ice in five-on-five duels with Caufield. He had played just seven minutes with Newhook and 45 minutes with Anderson, a winger who had already been auditioned on the right side of the two players.
Divide your forces
By dividing his forces, St-Louis wanted to achieve greater balance within his trio. We’d rather wait before we talk about a stroke of genius. The sample is still too small to analyze the changes. There were also several penalties on both sides, limiting the game to five on five. But with Caufield only scoring once at five-on-five, a move was more than likely.
“Things started to stagnate for our trio,” Caufield admitted. It’s a long season and sometimes it’s good to make changes. I liked the play of our four lines in this win. »
Suzuki scored a power play goal early in the third period. He beat Reimer with a wrist shot from the top of the circle. A classic Suzuki goal at five against four. On this play, Sean Monahan blocked Reimer’s view by once again putting himself in an advantageous position.
Newhook was promoted to the left wing of the front row and set up the first goal of the game. He spotted Mike Matheson with a precise little pass. On this play, Suzuki subtly caught defender Moritz Seider, causing him to lose his balance, thus opening the door to a surge.
Anderson, the other winger of the new first trio, once again took advantage of a breakaway without hitting the goal. After 13 games, the big number 17 is still looking for a first goal.
For the trio of Caufield, Dvorak and Slafkovsky, we will remember some good presences in enemy territory. But nothing more. Slafkovsky played an honest game, but Caufield only fired one shot at Reimer at five-on-five.
A win for Primeau
In his second start of the season, Cayden Primeau earned his first win. He blocked 27 of the Wings’ 29 shots.
The 24-year-old American had not won a game in the NHL since December 16, 2021 against the Philadelphia Flyers (3 to 2).
“It feels good to finally win a match,” Primeau noted. I’m not going to lie, I’m not finding it easy this season as I don’t play often. I felt like my feet stayed in the right position throughout the night and I could see the puck well. »