Montreal Canadiens' sniper Cole Caufield made history in Tuesday night's game against the Boston Bruins, on top of reaching the 40-goal mark.
Montreal Canadiens’ sniper Cole Caufield wasn’t on goal-40 watch for long. After scoring his 39th goal of the season on Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks, the talented winger notched his 40th of the season in overtime to give the Habs a much-needed win over the Boston Bruins.
The diminutive winger is the first player to score 40 goals in a season with the Sainte-Flanelle since Vincent Damphousse did it in 1993-94, back when seasons had 84 games. The Quebecer only managed to reach that number once over the course of his career, and in an interview with The Gazette, he explained:
I’m surprised it has taken that long. I thought I was going to do it again. I did it in ’94, and I thought it was going to be more of a trend for me. It’s difficult, and it just shows how hard it is. You’ve got to be in good health. You’ve got to be consistent throughout the year. You can’t have too many slumps. You’ve got to go on hot streaks once in a while because there’s going to be some cold spells. But if you limit your time when you’re struggling, you can get it done. Consistency is the key.
As for coach Martin St-Louis, he said:
Cole is able to score goals, but I really liked the rest of his game tonight. When he plays like that, he can have more scoring opportunities. […] All of his life before he got here, he played with the puck. In the NHL, the game is played without the puck; there are defensive moves you have to make, and you defend not with one or two players, but as a group. There are actions you have to take on the ice so that your team sees more of the puck. When you do that, your team has the puck more when you’re on the ice, you’re going to get more touches, and it creates a domino effect. There’s a hockey game to play, and it’s more than just scoring goals.
Asked what has to happen in a season for a player to score 40 goals, the coach explained:
It’s not just one thing. Sometimes, things start way before the season, and what you do to prepare yourself for a season, especially in today’s game, is crucial. If you want to have the opportunity to score that many goals, you need to have a certain amount of ice time, and it’s hard to get that ice time if your coach doesn’t feel confident when you’re on the ice on the other side of the puck. It takes a certain level of commitment for a player to understand that. Cole understood that. “ It’s been a while since we got a 40-goal scorer," I was 18 years old, St-Louis said, giving the media a wink. It doesn’t make me feel any younger, but I’m proud to be able to see it with my own eyes from the bench. […] I’m very happy for him, for the fans, for the organization.
While he was talking about Caufield, you can also find the rationale behind not playing Patrik Laine in that quote. Whichever way you look at it, the Canadiens’ game has progressed to such an extent that they now want to win and can no longer allow a player who can’t play up to those defensive standards to make the lineup. It's a shame for the big Finn, but that's the reality of it, and Kirby Dach being out for two to four weeks won't change that.
As for the man of the hour, Caufield got a bit emotional as he was interviewed by Marc Denis on the ice after the game and received a raucous ovation, you could see it hit him right in the feels and when Denis asked him what his next target was now that he had 40-goal, whether he would go for 50, he said that 41 was the next target.
Speaking to the media in the dressing room, he stayed humble, saying that his scoring 40 says a lot about the direction the team is headed and that it’s the right direction.
He also added:
A lot of work goes into that, a lot of great teammates and coaches, so it’s obviously a team sport, and that doesn’t happen without the guys in the room. I’m just lucky enough to be part of this group.
Speaking about his coach, he said:
It means a lot to have him on your side of things; it’s pretty special to have a guy like that be your coach and your mentor. He’s hard on us, and he wants the most out of us. It means a lot to see how much work he puts in with the coaching staff to get us heading in the right direction and give us a chance every night. Obviously, he’s done a lot for my full 200-foot game, I think maybe without that, you don’t get as many chances
By scoring that goal in overtime, Caufield also established a franchise record with 13 overtime goals (in both regular season and the playoffs), which belonged to Howie Morenz since 1936-37. And yes, there was regular-season overtime in Morenz’s days; the NHL discontinued regular-season overtime only in November 1942. The historical figure scored 13 overtime goals in 493 games with the Canadiens; Caufield needed only 378 games, which is rather impressive.
The Canadiens still have 15 games left in the regular season, and if we project his scoring pace over 81 games (since he missed one), it comes to 49 lamplighters, meaning the 50-goal mark is far from impossible.
Caufield still has five more years left on his contract with the Canadiens, meaning he could play another 420 games with the Habs (the season will be 84 games long starting next campaign). One has to wonder just how many goals he will have scored by then.
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