The Beautiful Game
Okay, now we have finally reached April 29th, 2022, the final game of the 2021-22 season for the Montreal Canadiens and the Florida Panthers.
Let's get the elephant out of the room first. This was basically the Florida Panthers in name only. The Panthers were backstopped by Jonas Johansson, who had played just one game before in that season, and has just recently passed 60 games played in his career. There were some full time NHLers, like Brandon Montour and Anthony Duclair, but the Florida Panthers were resting most of their stars, and the depth was thin.
But ultimately I don't think that matters too much. Fringe NHLers are still very good hockey players, and if David Ayres and the Toronto Maple Leafs proved anything, there are no guaranteed wins.
Despite it being the end of a terribly disappointing season, the energy was high in the building. To honor him after his recent passing, attendees were given bobbleheads embossed with the #10 on the back and adorned with flowing blonde hair depicting Guy Lafleur celebrating.
And so the game began, and the Canadiens jumped out early, their first shot coming from young defender Jordan Harris, who scored his first career NHL goal just under 2 minutes into the game. It was an auspicious start, but just 3 minutes later veteran Mike Hoffman banged in a rebound and it was off to the races.
Directly off the faceoff following the Hoffman goal, the Habs win the puck back and Cole Caufield snipes a goal just 12 seconds later. A Brendan Gallagher powerplay goal made the lead 4 in the first period and the game was pretty much out of reach from there.
Before the first period ended, the Florida Panthers did get one back, of course it was off the stick of Ben Chiarot, who was a Montreal Canadien just a few months earlier.
The second period was more of the same. Cole Caufield scored his second goal, an absolute beauty again just under 2 minutes into the period. And the depth came through. Mattheiu Perrault and Christian Dvorak both found the twine between a goal from the underrated defensive centre Jake Evans making the game 8-1 at the end of the second.
The third period is what puts this game into the history books. Ben Chiarot was one of the only Panthers player that looked like he actually wanted to be on the ice that night. And early in the third period, he had the puck on his stick in the high slot, looking directly into the eyes of the goalie in the bleu-blanc-et-rouge, Carey Price.
Price was quickly ruled out for most of the 2021-22 season, but played just 5 games, all in April, at the end of the year. And to put it lightly, it wasn't great. It was clear he was still dealing with injuries, and he lost his first 4 games, allowing 16 goals in that time.
But the Canadiens netminder came back for just one last game, the last game in this cursed season, and he made his last great save, a windmilling grab on a grade-A chance by his former teammate.
3 minutes later, Caufield bounces a pass from Hoffman off his foot in the slot and bats in his third goal of the night, and completed his first career hat-trick. The hats fell from the crowd as well chants of 'Cole! Cole! Cole!' It was a magical moment, but one that would be topped just over a minute later.
Tyler Pitlick picks a puck out of a scrum off a faceoff, and pots the 10th Montreal Canadiens goal of the evening. The announcement of Pitlick's goal was completely drowned out by more chants of 'Guy! Guy! Guy!' as the team and the fans paid homage to possibly the greatest player in team history, scoring the number of his jersey and washing the foul taste of the last season out of everyone's mouth.
A late Noel Acciari goal (also assisted by former Hab Chiarot) did little to quell the celebrations as the 2022 season ended in the best was possible. It was a tribute to one of the all time greats, the swan song of the face of the team for a decade, and one of the first great performances of one of the players that will lead the next generation. What more can you ask for in a game?