“Fearful, not involved, no retreat”, Martin Lemay takes aim at Caufield

Yesterday, the Montreal Canadiens won a game in New Jersey. During the game, which ended 3-2, Cole Caufield scored a goal and picked up an assist.

It seems only natural to think that Caufield scored, given that he’s paid to put it in. But since he hasn’t done it often enough this year, it’s still surprising.

We can also be surprised to see that he made a great pass on Juraj Slafkovsky’s goal, but scored a garbage goal while being in front of the net. Not your typical Caufield game, as he’s more of a scorer.

But it’s good to see.

After all, as Martin St-Louis said after the game, Caufield played a mature game . He plays to touch the puck as much as possible, and yesterday it paid off for him and his club. After all, without his goal and assist, would the Habs have won that game?

That’s the recipe for bouncing back from a difficult first half of the season. After all, when he left for the holidays, Caufield had eight goals and 16 assists in 33 games.

And since the holidays? Six goals and three assists in 11 games. That’s 14 goals and 19 assists in 44 games.

Six goals in 11 games is a rate of over 40 goals per season. I know it’s a small sample, but it’s a bit like the guy who scored four times in his first seven games of the campaign.

And the Habs won’t be complaining.

It’s also worth noting that he’s scored nine points in his last ten games, after being blanked in the first game back from the Christmas break.

With five points on the power play in his last 10 games, he’s back in the spotlight with the club. I think there’s a link to be made with the fact that Slaf looks good on the first line and that Nick Suzuki’s progression is also important…

Caufield, who has six points in his last four games, scores particularly when the moment is important. This season, 13 of his 14 goals have been either lead-getters or equalizers.

The other goal? It turned out to be the game-winning goal.

Want another example of why when Caufield scores, it matters? Six of his goals were game-winners for the Habs, which is pretty interesting.

He’s tied for third in the NHL in that regard.

It’s clear: when this guy scores, he makes an impact. That’s why, as Kent Hughes said this week, he needs to improve his shooting percentage to get back to his old standards.

And if he does, it will be ideal for everyone in the Montreal Canadiens organization.

In gusto

– Mattias Norlinder is ill.

– Speaking of the Rocket.

– Kaiden Guhle and Brian Gionta’s party.

– Good question.

– He needs to keep both feet on the ground.