It’s remarkable that the Montreal Canadiens are on pace for 104 points, yet they are in an absolute dogfight to make the playoffs this season. They made the post-season with only 91 points last year. This season, the east is dominating in games against the west, so it’s skewed like never before.

Montreal needs every win it can get and the Canadiens didn’t disappoint against the Washington Capitals with a 6-2 win on Saturday.

Wilde Horses

All Cole Caufield has to do is stay healthy to have the greatest goal scoring season for the Canadiens since 1994. That was the last time a Montreal player hit the 40-goal milestone, with Vincent Damphousse delivering the result.

Since then, it’s been nothing but failure to eclipse what isn’t that stunning a mark in the NHL. The closest was Max Pacioretty who counted 39 goals in 2013-14. Caufield’s career high is 37 goals, which he achieved last season.

This year, Caufield has something special in his sights. Only 30 seconds in on Saturday night, Caufield blocked a shot at the Capitals blue line to skate in on a breakaway. He shot far side, easily beating Charlie Lindrgren. Caufield added a second tally in the first period, beating Alexander Ovechkin in a goal-mouth battle to tap in number 35 on the season.

The 40-goal mark is easily attainable for the second highest goal scorer in the league. Caufield is on pace for 49 goals this year. He shouldn’t just end that embarrassing Canadiens run of 32 years without a 40-goal scorer, Caufield could be the first 50-goal man since Stephane Richer in 1990.

It will be exciting to see what total Caufield can achieve in the final 23 games of the season.

Alex Newhook has been strong in his first two games back from a serious ankle injury and surgery. Newhook has two assists in two games since returning. Newhook and Nick Suzuki are the two forwards assigned to win the zone on the power play, carrying a back pass from their own blue line. Newhook is actually the better of the two at this endeavour using his huge speed.

Newhook won the zone with the power play time running out. He caved in the Capitals defence, then found Zachary Bolduc, who fed the trailer Mike Matheson. Matheson found the far side. It was a beautiful goal that doesn’t happen without the speed of Newhook.

The Canadiens went up 4-1 late in the second on a great play by the first line on a three-on-two rush. Suzuki carried the puck into the corner then fed Kirby Dach, who fired it upstairs with a slap shot. The first line was the only trio that had good Corsi on the night.

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Both Suzuki and Jake Evans added empty-netters as Montreal seemed to take advantage of every chance they had to create a score line that wasn’t exactly indicative of the five-on-five play.

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Wilde Goats 

The Canadiens had a lot of difficulty in their own zone. They spent a considerable amount of time trying to clear out the bigger Capitals, but they didn’t suffer for it because of a strong game from Jakub Dobes. He made 27 saves on 29 shots to make sure the goats segment stayed empty.

Without Dobes, the night would have gone quite differently. The Canadiens won 6-2, but the Goals Expected was actually 2.78 to 2.25 for Washington before the empty netters skewed the final numbers. Dobes made it look like everything was relaxing and cozy for the Canadiens when it wasn’t.

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Wilde Cards

The trading deadline is Friday at 3 p.m. It’s becoming apparent that the Canadiens are missing assets if they want to make a major run this season. It’s a difficult moment for management. They don’t want to send a message to their players that this isn’t the year.

The players actually deserve more than General Manager Kent Hughes standing pat. The club needs an asset at every position if they are serious about this right now. If they are not serious about this season, they do have an asset coming at every hole that they have.

If the attempted Cup runs start in 2026-27, then they have Michael Hage and Alexander Zharovsky coming at forward; they have David Reinbacher at defence; they have Jacob Fowler in the net. If the run starts this year, then they need a first line winger, a third pair defender and a better goalie.

Dach hasn’t been the solution on the first line, though the Canadiens had a strong Saturday night. The club can’t seem to trust Arber Xhekaj as a third pair solution. Samuel Montembeault is well under league average in net and Jakub Dobes is somewhat under league average.

If Hughes and Jeff Gorton do decide to spend, then they have to unload Patrik Laine who they, apparently, do not have a spot for in their line-up. Laine has been wearing a contact jersey in practice for over a month. They refuse to play him. In fact, they refuse to let the media speak to him as well. It feels all but assured that his time is done in Montreal.

The future is extremely bright for the Canadiens, but how quickly do they want that future to arrive. If they acquired assets right now, the logjam of talent next season would be massive. They have no expiring contracts of unrestricted free agents next season. The following season the entire third line of Phillip Danault, Brendan Gallagher and Josh Anderson are free to move.

Don’t think that Hughes has boxed himself into a corner. He’s actually in the middle of an open field. There are no wrong choices; just interesting ones.

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

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MONTREAL – Montreal Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis admitted a 4-3 overtime loss to the visiting New York Islanders left a bitter taste with his players.

Montreal led Thursday’s game 3-2 late in the third, but the Islanders rallied with the game-tying goal in the final two minutes before scoring in the extra period.

The way that game ended was a point of emphasis on Saturday morning before the Canadiens hosted the visiting Washington Capitals.

“I think we learned from that,” said Canadiens forward Cole Caufield. “We weren’t too happy with ourselves and how we handled that third period (against the Islanders). Obviously, we knew we needed to have a good start and play a full 60 minutes (Saturday).”

The Canadiens entered the third period on Saturday with a 4-1 lead, thanks in large part to Caufield’s two first-period goals, the first of which came just 30 seconds into the game.

“When you get a goal the first shift of the game, it kind of sets the tone for the rest,” said Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki, who finished the game with a goal and two assists.

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“It was a good start,” added Caufield. “We needed that tonight. It’s pretty cool to get those two early but, obviously, getting chances is the most important thing.”

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While the Capitals would trim the deficit to two, courtesy of captain Alex Ovechkin’s second goal of the night, Montreal was determined to not let the lead, or the game, slip away from them again.

“What I liked best about the game was how we managed the third period,” said St. Louis. “I know it’s different from the other night because we were leading by more, but they scored a goal to cut the deficit to two goals. We managed it better. We continued to play in the third.”

Suzuki was also proud of his team’s commitment to finishing the game properly.

“I think there’s some points in the game where we probably were sitting a little too far back,” said Suzuki. “Sometimes, you get uncomfortable when you keep losing the lead. I thought we did a better job of not trying to be too safe out there.”

The Canadiens have seen a third-period lead turn into a loss on eight occasions this season, including three in regulation time.

Montreal currently sits third in the Atlantic Division standings with 75 points, just one point back of the second-place Buffalo Sabres, who have played one more game than the Canadiens.

With the Detroit Red Wings just one point back of Montreal entering play Sunday, Caufield recognizes the importance of not letting teams back into games, especially as the team gets set to enter the final two months of the regular season.

“These are very important games,” said Caufield. “It’s a sprint to the finish line. Obviously, every team in our division has been pushing in the same direction. All these points matter. That’s what makes it fun.”

HONOURING THE OLYMPIANS

Before Saturday’s puck drop, the Montreal Canadiens recognized 11 athletes who competed at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. In addition to Suzuki, Tom Wilson and Logan Thompson of the men’s ice hockey team, short track speedskaters Danaé Blais, William Dandjinou, Félix Roussel, Florence Brunelle, Kim Boutin, Courtney Sarault and Steven Dubois were saluted at centre ice by the Montreal faithful.

A thunderous ovation was also given to freestyle skier Mikaël Kingsbury, who captured a gold and silver medal in moguls during the 33-year-old’s final Olympics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2026.

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press

Who can stop the Spurs?

Two of the NBA’s largest superstars, Jalen Brunson and Victor Wembanyama, will converge on the Garden floor for a Sunday matinee.

The Knicks, who are third overall in the East, are pegged as 2.5-point underdogs while the Spurs, closely trailing the West lead, roll in on an eleven-game win streak.

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What our Post expert thinks about Knicks vs. Spurs

These two played in San Antonio on New Year’s Eve, when the Spurs edged the Knicks 134-132. The Spurs’ balance was on full display with Wembanyama and Julian Champagnie scoring 31 and 36 points, respectively, and De’Aron Fox recording 26.

Now, both head into this game as top-five teams in net rating, with the Spurs ranking No. 3 (6.9) and the Knicks (5.4).

This projects to be a high-scoring affair with both teams ranking within the top-seven of offensive rating and the Knicks averaging 119.3 points at home.

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TORONTO – There was no mincing words after the Toronto Maple Leafs’ latest loss, a 5-2 defeat to the visiting Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

“Just bad. Just fairly embarrassing, to be honest with you,” said Leafs captain Auston Matthews. “We need to have more pride in our play, no matter where we’re at, no matter what the situation is. We just have to have more pride in our game and we didn’t have that tonight.”

Matthews and the Maple Leafs have dropped three straight games coming out of the Olympic break on the heels of a three-game winning streak.

It’s getting dicey for the club which has made the playoffs in nine straight years — the longest active streak in the NHL — to ensure that run continues.

The Maple Leafs (27-24-9) entered action Saturday eight points out of a wild-card berth, and the road to get there is only more treacherous now.

“It’s hard. It’s the first time in a long time we’ve been in this position when we’re out looking in. So we gotta figure it out pretty quickly,” said forward William Nylander, who scored one of the Leafs’ goals. “Still not impossible, but we gotta play a lot better hockey if we want to be there.”

It was the Senators who looked like they wanted to be “there” a lot more.

Drake Batherson and Dylan Cozens each scored twice, and Thomas Chabot also got on the board for the Senators, who improved to 29-22-8 on the season to boost their slim post-season chances. Cozens also added an assist.

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The Maple Leafs scored the first goal of the game thanks to Morgan Rielly, but they were outscored 1-0 and outshot 16-0 for the remainder of the first period.

The Senators would string together 19 consecutive shots and three straight goals to take control of the divisional battle and earn their first win over the Maple Leafs since Game 5 of their first-round playoff series last year, which Toronto took in six.

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For the Maple Leafs, the slow start marked a continuation of sorts from Thursday’s loss to the Florida Panthers, when Toronto was outscored 3-0 and outshot 16-7 in the first 20 minutes.

“Good first five minutes, I thought. Obviously got the first goal, which we’ve been searching for,” said Toronto defenceman Jake McCabe. “And then we s— the bed after that.”

While the Maple Leafs struggled to find answers for their lack of desperation as they watch their playoff fortunes fade, they each cited “disconnect” as a reason for their current skid.

“We’ve had trouble stringing together good segments of games consistently. It’s just been too much of a roller-coaster,” Matthews said.

The Maple Leafs had leaned on their pre-Olympic run for optimism toward a potential second-half surge.

Now, that spark is all but snuffed.

“When I look at the game or show tape or go over things, there’s a certain way we need to play the game. But I can’t give guys this (points to heart) or this (points to head) and they have to come with that. That’s on them. They gotta bring the heart and the competitiveness that’s needed,” head coach Craig Berube said.

“I can go in there and yell and scream at them all I want. That doesn’t do anything either.”

With the trade deadline approaching on Friday, the Leafs could look very different in a week’s time.

Toronto’s pending free agents include forwards Bobby McMann and Scott Laughton in addition to defenceman Troy Stecher. Blue liner Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who has one more season on his contract, is also a candidate to be moved.

Berube admitted that uncertainty could play into the Leafs’ struggles.

“But in saying that, those are all excuses. And we can’t make excuses. Until guys in there decide they want to play the right way and play as a team, that’s what you’ll get,” Berube said.

Rielly, the veteran defenceman and longest-tenured Maple Leaf, refuted a notion that the team is quitting.

“Obviously an effort like tonight given what’s at stake is confusing and unacceptable. So moving forward, we need to not allow that to happen again,” he said.

Matthews called the current skid a “tough stretch.”

“It’s never fun to lose. It’s never fun to lose in this kind of fashion, three games in a row. So it’s hard. It definitely wears on you, but we just have to be better. There’s no hanging our heads, there’s no feeling sorry for ourselves. Everybody’s gotta look in the mirror and be better.”

Toronto has three more games before the deadline, beginning Monday against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers.

MIXED REACTION FOR MATTHEWS

The Maple Leafs honoured each of their three Olympians during the first television break on Saturday. Sweden’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson and William Nylander, who returned home without hardware, received widespread applause.

The reception for gold medallist Matthews wasn’t as warm as the Team USA captain was met with boos from the crowd before they were drowned out by cheers. He stood on the bench to acknowledge the crowd.

American teammate Brady Tkachuk, the Senators captain, was jeered when he appeared on the arena’s big screen for the first time.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2026.

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press

WWE locked in one of its WrestleMania 42 main events and left the other in complete chaos after Elimination Chamber.

CM Punk retained his World Heavyweight championship at the United Center in Chicago on Saturday night and is set to face Roman Reigns in Las Vegas in April. We know Randy Orton will also be in Sin City, but who will be across from him as Undisputed WWE champion is up in the air after Drew McIntyre’s continued interference made SmackDown general manager put him in a title match against Cody Rhodes on SmackDown.

As Rick Pitino said Friday, a lopsided loss sometimes can be better than a narrow one.

It can serve as a wake-up call, and provide added motivation.

That seems to have been the case for St. John’s.

Seventy-two hours after their ugly loss at Connecticut, the No. 15 Johnnies didn’t just pick themselves off the proverbial mat.

They rose together with a fury, taking out their frustrations on Villanova and cruising to an 89-57 victory at a sold-out Garden to remain tied atop the Big East with Connecticut in the loss column.

“The response was everything,” star senior Zuby Ejiofor said during his on-court interview after St. John’s largest win ever over Villanova. “I’m really happy for the guys.”

With Pitino donning his white suit after some hesitation, St. John’s turned in one of its best first halves of the season and treated the Wildcats like an overmatched sparring partner.

CHECK OUT THE LATEST BIG EAST STANDINGS AND ST. JOHN’S STATS

This was as thorough and overwhelming a performance as St. John’s has had this year, blowing away a tournament team with relative ease.

Ejiofor responded to getting badly outplayed on Wednesday with the first triple-double of his career, notching 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, along with three blocks.

Ian Jackson turned in his best game of the year, with 19 points, five rebounds and five steals off the bench.

Oziyah Sellers added 14 points and the Johnnies held Villanova to a season-low in points and turned 16 turnovers into 29 points. St. John’s also tallied a season-high 26 assists and shot 52.5 percent from the field.

It was the kind of bounce-back St. John’s (23-6, 16-2) had hoped for. The Red Storm entered Wednesday’s visit to Hartford, Conn., having won 13 straight games.

It went sideways early, and afterward Ejiofor said he had to do a better job making sure his team was ready for Saturday night.

They certainly were, and he led the way. When Ejiofor tallied his 10th and final assist in the final minutes, the crowd exploded with chants of “Zuuuuby.”

Pitino couldn’t have scripted a better first half. St. John’s produced runs of 17-3 and 16-1. The Red Storm made 14 of their first 22 shots from the field, had 15 assists and outscored Villanova in the paint, 22-6.

Jackson was dynamic, notching 11 points, four rebounds and three steals. On back-to-back possessions he came up with steals, and capped one of them with a windmill jam.

Ejiofor did a little bit of everything, tallying nine points, six rebounds, five assists and three blocks. Villanova had more turnovers (eight) than made field goals.

The Red Storm shot a blistering 57.6 percent from the field, committed only two turnovers and were plus-nine on the glass. They had an absurd 1.455 points per possession in the first 20 minutes.

The only negative: Ejiofor fouled Bryce Lindsay on a 3-point attempt in the final seconds, drawing Pitino’s ire. He wasn’t letting his foot off the gas, no matter how large the differential was.

TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs gave up four goals in the second period and dropped a 5-2 decision to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday at Scotiabank Arena.

Drake Batherson and Dylan Cozens each scored twice, and Thomas Chabot also got on the board for the Senators, who improved to 29-22-8 on the season. Cozens also added an assist.

Morgan Rielly and William Nylander found the back of the net for the Maple Leafs (27-24-9), who have dropped three in a row. Their last win was Feb. 4 against the Edmonton Oilers, just before the Olympic break.

Rielly got the scoring started with his eighth of the season less than three minutes into the first period, but it was all Senators from there.

Ottawa landed the next 19 shots on net and scored three unanswered to take a two-goal lead midway through the second frame.

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Nylander responded to cut the Senators’ lead to 3-2, but Batherson struck back with his second of the period less than two minutes later on a play the Maple Leafs challenged for offside and lost.

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Cozens registered his second goal on the ensuing penalty, chasing goalie Joseph Woll after 23 saves on 28 shots. Anthony Stolarz replaced Woll and stopped all 12 shots he faced.

Linus Ullmark had 21 saves for the Senators.

The Leafs frustrations boiled over early in the third period in the form of a brawl in front of Stolarz, which resulted in 28 penalty minutes, including a 10-minute misconduct to Max Domi.

It was the Leafs first home game since captain Auston Matthews won gold with Team USA at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

TAKEAWAYS

Maple Leafs: Toronto’s slow starts continued. After scoring the first goal and recording two shots, the Leafs were outscored 1-0 and outshot 16-0 for the remainder of the first period. The two shots marked the Leafs lowest total of any period this season.

Senators: Ottawa’s win was its first against the Maple Leafs since it lost to its provincial rival in a six-game first-round playoff series last season. The teams will battle twice more this season, with both games in Ottawa.

KEY MOMENT

The Maple Leafs honoured each of their three Olympians during the first TV break. Sweden’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Nylander, who returned home without hardware, received widespread applause.

But the reception for gold medallist Matthews wasn’t as warm, as the Team USA captain was initially met with boos from the crowd before they were drowned out by cheers. American teammate Brady Tkachuk, the Senators captain, was jeered when he appeared on the big screen. The U.S. beat Canada 2-1 in overtime in the gold-medal game in Italy.

KEY STAT

Matthews extended his career-long assist streak to six games when he set up Rielly’s first-period goal. Oddly, the one-time 69-goal scorer has also now gone seven straight without a marker.

UP NEXT

Senators: Visit the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.

Maple Leafs: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 28, 2026.

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press

Ryan Brown had a three-point afternoon and Seb Gatto stopped 11 shots for his third shutout of the season as the London Knights blanked the Brampton Steelheads 5-0 on Saturday at the CAA Centre.

Brown picked up three assists and was named the game’s first star.

Gatto was named the game’s second star.

Braiden Clark’s 15th goal of the year started the scoring late in the first period as he lifted the rebound off a Braidy Wassilyn shot past Steelheads rookie goaltender Peter Chlebowski at 18:24.

Knights defenceman Andoni Fimis made it 2-0 in the second when he spun at the left point and wristed a puck through several bodies to tuck it inside the left post. It was Fimis’ sixth goal of the season.

Jesse Nurmi scored on a 5-on-3 power play at 10:43 and Kaiden Hawkins put home a rebound just over five minutes later. London ended the first 40 minutes of the game with a 4-0 lead.

Will Nicholl scored the lone goal of the third period to complete the scoring.

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The Knights outshot Brampton 38-11. London was 1-for-5 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.

The Steelheads also hosted their Pucks and Paws event on Saturday in which fans are encouraged to bring their dogs to the game.

The Knights, meanwhile, moved to within three points of the dogs they’re chasing as they try to track down the Soo Greyhounds for home ice advantage in what is likely a first round playoff series between the two teams.

Mitch Marner becomes 8th fastest active player to hit 800 points

Former London Knight Mitch Marner assisted on Tomas Hertl’s 3rd period goal on Friday to hit 800 career points in the National Hockey League.

Marner became the eighth fastest active player to reach the milestone, crossing the threshold in 715 games

Connor McDavid leads the way among current NHL players. The former Erie Otters got to 800 points in 545 games.

Up next

Farmers Night takes place Wednesday, March 4 at Canada Life Place as the London Knights host the Guelph Storm at 6:30 p.m.

London and Guelph turned in three barn-burners when going head-to-head this season. The Knights won the first game in overtime while the Storm have snuck out wins in the past two.

A new block of tickets has been opened for the game. Fans can buy them at http://www.londonknights.com.

Coverage begins at 6 p.m., on 980 CFPL, at and on the iHeart Radio and Radioplayer Canada apps.

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.