Hot Sauce: Montreal blew 4-0, and Kucherov says it's not about money

Montreal led 4-0 with 2:39 left and lost in overtime, which in Boston we call a Tuesday and in Montreal they call a public inquiry. Great week for the rest of us. Five takes, mild to nuclear, then the fights.

1. Minnesota is the best team in the West, and Quinn Hughes is why it isn't close

He played 31 minutes against San Jose on Friday. Thirty-one. I've had jobs that didn't last that long.

Kirill Kaprizov has 30 points in 18 games and a seven-game point streak, by our count, and the Wild are 4-0-1 in their last five at plus-10, per NHL data. That's not a hot streak. That's a team that found the cheat code and didn't tell anybody. Grade: A.

2. San Jose outshoots you, loses by five, and I'm out of patience

The Sharks put 32 shots on the Kings on Wednesday, gave up 27, and lost 7-2. That's not a hockey game. That's a timeshare presentation: you sit through the whole thing and leave with nothing.

They're 1-4 in their last five at minus-12, per NHL data, and Darnell Nurse has gone seven straight without a point at 21.4 minutes a night, by our count. Macklin Celebrini plays 22.8 minutes and still carries his own bags. Buddy, I'm begging you, somebody in teal take a shift. Grade: D.

3. Montreal blew a 4-0 lead with 2:39 left to a team on a nine-game losing streak

Tyrel Bauer's first NHL goal at 17:21 of the third. Morgan Barron at 18:03. Kyle Connor at 19:00 and again at 19:27, then Dylan Samberg in overtime. Four goals in 2:06, the latest four-goal comeback the league has ever seen, and Winnipeg's first win in ten games.

Jacob Fowler made 42 saves and lost. Look, I've watched Bruins teams blow 3-1 leads for twenty years. A 4-0 lead with 159 seconds to go isn't a collapse. It's performance art. Grade: F, and the frame is already on the wall.

Bruins tax: Boston went 3-0 this week and beat Pittsburgh 6-2 on 24 shots. In Boston we call that a warning. The next 3-1 lead is already in the mail.

4. McDavid has a point in all 17, and Edmonton's penalty kill keeps giving them back

Seventeen games, a point in every one of them, 44 points, by our count. On Thursday he scored shorthanded and set up three more, and the Oilers lost 5-4 at home to Anaheim anyway.

Edmonton took 46 penalty minutes, 27 of them from Vasily Podkolzin, who jumped Drew Helleson eight minutes in and got the instigator, the misconduct and the door.

The Oilers' penalty kill is 74.1 percent, per NHL data. Great. Tremendous. The best player alive, and the team's plan for him is a pile of minors. Grade: A for No. 97, F for the box.

5. Kucherov says it was never about the money, which is what everyone says right before it's about the money

He asked out, told his teammates himself, and then said Monday, "It was never about the money for me." Julien BriseBois said Tampa has "unequivocally" no intention of trading him.

Final year of his deal, 20 points in 15 games, per NHL data, and the Lightning haven't lost at home in regulation. Marcus has the price tag.

Here's where I land, and Tampa fans can send their mail to the usual address: trade him in-conference and send him down Alligator Alley.

Marcus will show you a cap sheet. I'll show you Florida's 0-3 record in the Atlantic, by our count, and ask which number keeps you up at night. Grade for Tampa's week: C. Grade for the quote: A for effort.

Fight of the week

Five of them, Anaheim at Vancouver on Tuesday. Jacob Quillan fought Roger McQueen at 4:39 of the first and Travis Mitchell at 6:37 of the second, because once wasn't enough and twice was still cheaper than therapy.

Jamie Oleksiak and Jeff Malott went at 12:04 of the second, and the line brawl at 4:37 of the third sent Sam Colangelo and Paul Cotter to the showers. Eighty-four penalty minutes.

Who won: Quillan on volume, Anaheim on the scoreboard, 5-4. The Canucks are 1-7 at home, per NHL data, so the fans finally watched somebody in a home sweater win something.

Kept off the sheet

Ian Cole, Chicago: 17 games, 18.2 minutes a night, zero points, by our count. He's not kept off the sheet. He's been excused from it. Tom Wilson, Washington: 10 straight without a point at 18.5 minutes, plus 14 penalty minutes against Minnesota. He sees the Panthers at 12:30 today and he's due for one of the two.

Cam Fowler, St. Louis: nine straight at 21.4 minutes. Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Toronto: six straight at 17.8, and the Leafs are 2-3 in their last five, which they're calling a rebuild. Gustav Forsling, Florida: seven straight at 21.2. The humidity's got to be doing something down here.

Not a real award

The Podkolzin Trophy for Efficiency goes to Vasily Podkolzin, Edmonton: 27 penalty minutes in 2 minutes and 35 seconds of ice time. Ten penalty minutes for every minute he played. That's not a stat line, that's a parking ticket.

Runner-up: Stuart Skinner, 18 saves on 22 shots in Montreal and a win. Last week I said Winnipeg sold the goalie. Turns out they bought a scratch ticket.

One more. Pavel Mintyukov fought Kasperi Kapanen at 16:52 of the first on Thursday, then scored twice and set up the winner before the second intermission. Friday morning I called him the best defenseman in the Pacific. Fine. Top five. He still drinks free. I said what I said.