Canadian Teams Morning Review – Feb. 1: Flames, Jets, Habs, Sens, Canucks, Leafs & Oilers
Saturday night offered a familiar snapshot of hockey north of the border: resilience in places you didn’t expect it, fragility in others, and minimal separation between momentum and warning sign. Canadian teams didn’t dominate the board, but they largely dictated the tone — grinding out points, stealing games late, and exposing issues that don’t disappear with one win.
What tied the night together wasn’t brilliance so much as timing. Short-handed goals, third-period pushes, and goaltending moments that either held or cracked. Some teams looked like they were learning how to survive pressure. Others looked as if they were discovering how thin the margin really is when the structure slips.
From Calgary halting a slide, to Toronto stopping its own bleeding, to Edmonton getting a blunt reminder about discipline and depth, it was a night that mattered less for the highlights than for what it hinted at beneath the surface.
Calgary Flames 3, San Jose Sharks 2
(Short-Handed Timing, Not Style, Ends the Slide)
For Calgary, this win mattered because it stopped the drift. Five straight losses and the aftershocks of the Rasmus Andersson trade had created the sense of a team waiting for something to go wrong. Instead, the Flames leaned on timing and opportunism rather than control.
Joel Farabee’s short-handed goal early in the third period was the pivot point. Not a drawn-up play so much as a moment where effort and circumstance met. Mikael Backlund’s missed shot turning into a rebound chance was emblematic of a night where Calgary didn’t overthink things — they stayed involved long enough for the game to turn.
Dustin Wolf was the quiet stabilizer. His late stop on Macklin Celebrini mattered more than the save total, coming at a moment when the game could have slipped. Calgary didn’t dominate possession or pace, but they stayed within themselves, which hasn’t always been the case lately.
This wasn’t a corrective performance so much as a reminder that the Flames can still win games when structure bends but doesn’t break.
Winnipeg Jets 2, Florida Panthers 1
(A Rare Comeback That Might Matter Later)
Winnipeg’s win wasn’t impressive on its face. However, it was meaningful given the context. The Jets had been almost incapable of rallying when trailing after two periods. Doing it against Florida, even a depleted Florida team, changes the tone slightly.
Cole Perfetti’s tying goal shifted belief more than momentum. Mark Scheifele’s winner delivered the result. But the defining stretch came late, when Eric Comrie held firm against Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart with the game tightening fast.
Florida’s missing bodies are found over time. Without Aleksander Barkov and others, their usual third-period control wasn’t there. Still, this was the first time all season the Panthers failed to secure at least a point when leading after two, which says as much about Winnipeg’s persistence as Florida’s thin margin.
For the Jets, this was less about climbing the standings than proving they can still respond when games tilt away from script.
Montreal Canadiens 4, Buffalo Sabres 2
(Cole Caufield Tilts the Ice When It Counts)
Montreal’s third straight win followed a familiar pattern: patience early, push late, and elite finishing when opportunity appeared. Cole Caufield didn’t dominate the game — he decided it.
His two third-period goals were clinical, not flashy. The first erased Buffalo’s edge. The second removed doubt. In between, Montreal trusted its goaltending and let the game come back to them rather than forcing it.
Jakub Dobes deserves credit. Thirty-six saves kept the Canadiens close when Buffalo had reason to believe the game was slipping their way. Juraj Slafkovsky’s early power-play goal set the table, but it was Caufield’s timing that shifted the night.
Montreal still isn’t consistently controlling full games, but they are learning when to press and when to wait. That matters more right now than how clean the wins look.
Ottawa Senators 4, New Jersey Devils 1
(Stability Returns, Emotion Follows)
This game was less about the score and more about Linus Ullmark’s return. After time away, his calm presence gave Ottawa something it has lacked at times: predictability in net.
Brady Tkachuk drove the game emotionally and physically, while Tim Stutzle’s contributions reflected a team playing with more transparent structure. Dylan Cozens reaching 100 NHL goals was a footnote, but a meaningful one for a roster still defining itself.
New Jersey, missing Jack Hughes, struggled to generate sustained pressure. Jake Allen kept things respectable, but the Devils never quite imposed themselves.
For Ottawa, three straight wins don’t solve long-term questions, but they do suggest that when the foundation is steady, the rest of the game follows more naturally.
Toronto Maple Leafs 3, Vancouver Canucks 2 (SO)
(Survival Win, Not a Statement)
Toronto needed the two points more than the performance. Ending a six-game losing streak matters, even if the path there was uneven.
Max Domi’s third-period goal came from persistence rather than polish. Auston Matthews and William Nylander delivered in the shootout, but Matthews’ earlier penalty-shot miss in overtime captured the night — opportunities earned, not always finished.
Joseph Woll was steady enough. Nikita Tolopilo was better than the result suggests. Vancouver, despite the loss, played with more purpose than their recent record indicates.
For the Maple Leafs, this wasn’t about turning a corner. It was about stopping the skid and buying time — something they’ve had to do more than they’d like this season.
Minnesota Wild 7, Edmonton Oilers 3
(Discipline and Detail Catch Up Fast)
Edmonton’s night unravelled in the second period, and once it did, it went quickly. Tied after one, the Oilers lost control through penalties, missed reads, and goaltending that couldn’t mask the cracks.
Tristan Jarry’s night ended early, and while not every goal was on him, the margin wasn’t forgiving. Minnesota exploited Edmonton’s penalty-killing issue, an ongoing problem, and never relinquished control once it took the lead.
Leon Draisaitl’s presence was felt, Evan Bouchard continued his offensive run, but none of it slowed the Wild once they gained separation. Minnesota’s pace and structure forced Edmonton into reaction mode.
For the Oilers, this was less about one bad game and more about a reminder: when discipline slips, their safety net is thinner than it looks.
Closing Thought: Points Gained, Questions Earned
Canadian teams essentially found ways to get results Saturday night, but not without revealing stress points. Some wins stabilized seasons. Others merely paused uncomfortable conversations.
At this stage, the standings reward survival as much as excellence. The danger comes when teams mistake one for the other.