Marc Dumont
The Montreal Canadiens hosted the New York Islanders on Thursday night, with a pair of elite defencemen playing a crucial role for each club.
Both Noah Dobson and Matthew Schaefer scored twice, but it was the Islanders who finally emerged with a 4-3 overtime win.
Let’s dive into the highlights!
Money On The Board
For those who are unaware with the tradition, players will often put ‘money on the board’ when facing their former team. It’s a little financial incentive to ensure everyone will provide an honest effort.
Of course, we don’t know if Noah Dobson put money on the board against the Islanders, but if he did, he’s the one that’s going to collect most of the bounty.
Dobson opened the scoring in the first period via a Lane Hutson pass, using perfect accuracy to fool one of the best goaltenders in the league, Ilya Sorokin. He quickly doubled his goal tally, scoring his second of the night a midway through the second period.
Noah Dobson scores versus his former team. His 11th of the season. #GoHabsGo up 1-0. pic.twitter.com/l3bBEVGz79
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) February 27, 2026
Rookie Of The Year
It’s probably too early to crown Schaefer as the Calder Trophy winner, especially since Ivan Demidov is also doing wonderful things as a rookie.
But if we take bias out of the picture, Schaefer is putting together a historic season, a lot like Lane Hutson did when he captured the Calder Trophy last season. Therefore, we can fairly suggest Demidov is having a good year, but Schaefer is having a great season, giving him the clear-cut, inside track for the illustrious award.
For example, he quickly took in the second period, scoring goals on back-to-back shots to tie the game at 2-2. As a reminder, Schaefer is just 18 years old, a veritable babe in the woods.
Matthew Schaefer scores his second goal in as many shots. Less than a minute apart, too. It's a tie game.
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) February 27, 2026
He casually goes for a jaunt before beating Montembeault from distance with a good shot. pic.twitter.com/koEqKbqQCN
Goal Caufield
Speaking of players that should have played at the Olympics, Canadiens sniper Cole Caufield did not waste any time getting back to his goal scoring ways, finding the back of the net for the 33rd time of the season.
It should be noted that a broken stick actually worked to Montreal’s advantage, for the first time in roughly 1291 occasions this season.
The goal was assisted by Juraj Slafkovsky and Demidov, and gave the Canadiens a 3-2 lead with a little over 10 minutes left in the third period.
The lead did not last, as the Islanders pulled their netminder, leading to an Anders Lee goal in the dying minutes of the frame. It was the 20th time this season a Canadiens came necessitated extra time to decide a winner.
Unfortunately for Montreal, Jean-Gabriel Pageau continues to be a thorn in their side, scoring a goal early in overtime to secure the win for the Islanders.
ANOTHER big goal by Cole Caufield. #GoHabsGo up 3-2. pic.twitter.com/LcAXvWEXJM
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) February 27, 2026
The Montreal Canadiens will be back in action on Saturday, hosting the Washington Capitals at the Bell Centre. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 pm ET.
All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.
