Montreal Canadiens right winger Cole Caufield switched his jersey number to 13 this season in honor of Johnny Gaudreau, and he scored his team's first goal of the season.
Cole Caufield once wore No. 13 earlier in his hockey career because of Johnny Gaudreau. He announced last month he'd wear it again for the same reason after Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew Gaudreau, were killed on Aug. 29.
On Wednesday night at the Bell Centre, Caufield scored the Montreal Canadiens' first goal of the season against the Toronto Maple Leafs while sporting No. 13 on his back.
The Canadiens had the power play after Maple Leafs defenseman Conor Timmins took a slashing penalty against Juraj Slafkovsky. Montreal controlled possession in the offensive zone, with Mike Matheson feeding Kirby Dach up high. Dach then fired a pass low to Slafkovsky at the left of the net. Slafkovsky sent a pass across the crease and through traffic to Caufield, who one-timed the puck past Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz.
Caufield pointed to the sky as he skated to the bench to high-five his teammates.
When 23-year-old Caufield first announced he was changing his jersey number from 22 to 13, he mentioned he got to play with his hero at the World Championship for Team USA.
"I was lucky enough to be Johnny’s teammate this past summer, and it didn’t take long to realize how great of a person he was," Gaudreau wrote in an Instagram post on Sept. 3. "He was the most welcoming, genuine and funniest guy I have ever met. He was someone everyone gravitated towards, and I took every chance I could to be around him. Not only was he an amazing hockey player and teammate, but he was down to earth and truly cared about every person he encountered."
After Caufield's number switch, Gaudreau's wife, Meredith Gaudreau, wrote on Instagram to acknowledge the act.
"John would be so honored," Meredith Gaudreau wrote. "Cole wore my Gaudreau jacket home from a night out in Ostrava together during Worlds."
Caufield measures in at 5-foot-8, while Gaudreau was 5-foot-9, but they both made it to the NHL and excelled despite being smaller in height than the average NHLer. Caufield recorded 28 goals and 65 points in 82 games last season, and Wednesday's goal was the fourth time in three years he scored against the Maple Leafs in his first game of the season. He scored once last season and twice on Oct. 12, 2022.
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