Cole Caufield: The quest for 50 goals was starting to take its toll on him

Félix Forget
Cole Caufield: The quest for 50 goals was starting to take its toll on him
Credit: Vincent Ethier/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Last night, Cole Caufield scored his 50th goal of the season. The Habs' sniper did it in style: he scored at 5-on-5 in a crucial game for his team against Vezina Trophy favorite Andrei Vasilevskiy.

And he did it on a pass from his longtime Montreal teammate, Nick Suzuki. It's hard to ask for anything better.

But above all, you could tell the sniper was pretty relieved to have it out of the way. We've seen him get frustrated at times during recent games, and he must be glad it's behind him.

Because, in fact, Marco D'Amico kind of confirmed it during his appearance on The Sheet: Caufield was starting to be affected by the 50-goal chase.

He basically didn't want to be the center of attention anymore.

It was clear in recent games that some players tended to look for Caufield a bit too much on the ice and force plays to set him up. And that, in fact, is something Caufield never wanted: he didn't want everything to revolve around him anymore.

And D'Amico confirmed it: Caufield has been frustrated over the past few days.

The good news for him is that his 50th goal is now in the bag. And one can imagine that this will help him feel a little more liberated on the ice… just as it might help his teammates prioritize smart play rather than forcing a pass to #13.

And paradoxically, it wouldn't be surprising if that change helps him score a few more goals by the end of the season.


In a nutshell

– Speaking of 50 goals.

– What a season.

– Hehe.

– Will the Kraken land a big fish this summer?

– Oops.

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