It’s difficult to find a more significant late-season game than one where a win puts a team in the playoffs and a loss means they’re out. That was the script for the Montreal Canadiens when they faced the New York Islanders Saturday night at the Bell Centre.

The Canadiens understood the assignment as they gained momentum through out the night to win the vital contest 7-3.

Wilde Horses 

It was immediately obvious Saturday that the Canadiens had a chance to work on power play concepts. The sixth ranked power play in the league was in a bit of a tailspin with only one goal in its last 10 chances. On the first opportunity, Ivan Demidov wasn’t static on the half wall, but was moving in and out of space toward the side of the net so he could take a backdoor pass from Nick Suzuki.

That opened up the space in the high slot because the checking forward on that side didn’t know who to take. When he faded toward Demidov, Slafkovsky got the crisp pass from Suzuki and it was in the net quickly for 1-0 on the Slovak’s 26th of the season.

Second period was a rough one for the Canadiens. They didn’t get a single shot until there were only six minutes remaining, yet somehow they scored two to take the lead. Kaiden Guhle made a crisp pass to Alex Newhook for a one-timer, then the power play went to work again.

The Canadiens did look better with the extra-man. There was so much more movement, and that makes all the difference after establishing zone pressure. It also helps when you have a player who can put a puck on a postage stamp. Cole Caufield went bar down from three feet for his 41st of the season.

The top line continued to be almost unstoppable. Since being reunited, the line has a stunning 19 goals in nine games. A two goals-per-game pace is unheard of. The top line in the NHL will come in at 125 goals in a season. The Canadiens haven’t had a 100-goal line since 1993.

Midway through the third period, the Canadiens needed a goal, and they came through again. Suzuki found Caufield behind the net who found Slafkovsky with a one-timer. He snapped it far side for his 27th goal of the season.

The organization said on draft day that they were hoping Slafkovsky could become a 30-goal man after he was in the league five years. How about next week? Three more goals to go.

Get daily National news

Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.

A couple shifts later, the line struck again. Slafkovsky found himself with enough free time to knit a sweater. He chose a pass to Caufield instead. Caufield fired the puck as soon as he got it. That’s 42 goals for Caufield and the first four-point game of Slafkovsky’s career.

They weren’t done. Suzuki to Caufield yet again. On the power play again. On a two-on-one as the the Islanders, down by three, tried to commit bodies forward. They got caught instead, presenting Suzuki with a four-point night as well. Caufield a five-point night, including a hat trick, and 43 on the season. The Expected Goals for the line was an 84 per cent share in an absolutely dominating performance.

The Canadiens realized the importance of the night as they were more physical and battled harder than they often do. They’re getting the sense that this takes talent and sandpaper. They want their games to resemble playoff games more. They want to play tighter. Allowing only 22 shots is a good start to that end.

The best of the defenders was Kaiden Guhle, who had a three-point night and was also plus-three on the night. Guhle also laid out the body all game and protected his smaller teammates without delay. It was likely his best game of the season.

Wilde Goats

Jacob Fowler didn’t have the strongest of games for the Canadiens. None of the goals were horrible, but he also didn’t seem quick or sharp. A lot was by him before he moved. He also benefited from some cooperative goal posts. The Goals Saved Above Expected analytics agrees with the assessment as Fowler was minus .91 on the night.

The Canadiens will need Fowler to stay strong down the stretch. With the team clearly giving up on Samuel Montembeault for the rest of this season, Fowler has to provide support for Jakub Dobes. There are back-to-backs and two goalies are required.

Wilde Cards

Some draft picks are fascinating and some picks don’t carry the same drama over how they will turn out in the long run. For example, a fascinating pick was Lane Hutson. An absolute college star setting scoring records at Boston University, Hutson logged over 25 minutes per game while leading the USA to a gold medal at the World Junior Championships. Hutson went 62nd overall.

Hutson has a height issue, and the greatest scouts in the entire world could not get past it. They couldn’t see the processor at the college level was as good as any ever seen. They couldn’t see the creativity. They invented the idea he wasn’t that good a skater, even though a simple check of the radar showed he was, and is, one of the fastest skaters in hockey.

They had their bias and nothing was going to knock them off it. Sixty-second overall for one of the greatest defencemen statistically in his first two seasons in the history of the game. A head scout makes fascinating picks because he doesn’t move with the crowd, because he truly believes that his assessment is better than his peers. He doesn’t need their confirmation.

Juraj Slafkovsky was also a bold pick because Shane Wright was the consensus. David Reinbacher was also a moment of courage because the world thought the choice was Matvei Michkov. Canadiens head scout Nick Bobrov never met a moment in which he wasn’t courageous.

Two picks on the horizon to the pros are also fascinating: Michael Hage and Bryce Pickford.

Hage is interesting because he is continually disrespected. Hage couldn’t get an invite to the World Junior Championship in his draft year. He had been outstanding in his first season at Michigan, but he couldn’t get a sniff from the “brains” at Hockey Canada. The following year he was Canada’s best player.

Hage still gets disrespected. Despite being third in national scoring, Hage didn’t even get a nomination for the Hobey Baker Award this week, which goes 10 players deep, and he still didn’t get acknowledged. How a 24-year-old year teammate TJ Hughes got a nomination and Hage didn’t is a stunner, but it’s simply how it goes for Hage.

Pickford has a similar career path. The Canadian team at the recent World Juniors was horrific on defence. However, they didn’t even invite Pickford to camp to prove that his numbers in the Western Hockey League wouldn’t hold up against stiffer competition.

If the Canadian team were deep on defence, this might have been understandable. The truth is that team needed Pickford desperately. Pickford has 45 goals this season for the Medicine Hat Tigers with one game left in the regular season. He will finish this season as the highest Goals Per Game defender in the history of the WHL.

In his first year of eligibility for the entry draft, Pickford didn’t even get chosen. He went back into the pool one season later and had to wait for the Canadiens to choose him 81st overall. Now he is on Craig Button’s top-50 prospect list in all of hockey at 38.

It’s still an unknown if Bobrov made the right choice taking Hage and Pickford. But if Slafkovsky and Hutson are any indication, bet on Nick, who seems to be the smartest guy in the room — and the bravest.

Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.