Montreal Canadiens: Cole Caufield Dominates in Debut With Laval Rocket

Montreal Canadiens top prospect Cole Caufield had quite a night for himself last night.

He was named the Hobey Baker Award winner for his 30 goal and 52 point performance in 31 games with the Wisconsin Badgers. Being named the best player in college hockey is quite an accomplishment, but that was just the appetizer for Caufield last night.

He then suited up in his Laval Rocket gear for the first time and made his pro debut just minutes after the announcement was made. He was just as impressive in his first AHL game as he was in any NCAA game he played all season.

The Rocket were taking on the Toronto Marlies in the first of four consecutive meetings between the two teams over the next ten days. The Rocket and Marlies are the top two teams in the Canadian Division of the AHL, but the Rocket are running away with it. Laval had 36 points in 24 games heading into last night’s game while Toronto had 21 points in 20 games.

The Rocket got off to a bit of a slow start and it was the Marlies taking a 1-0 lead after the first 20 minutes.

After that, it was the Cole Caufield show.

He was out on the man advantage early in the second period and just missed knocking in a rebound as he drove to the net. Seconds later, Jordan Weal feathered a pass across the ice and Caufield hammered home a one-timer to tie the game.

It was pretty classic Caufield, though he played the right point on the power play with the Badgers all season. He certainly did score a few goals from the low slot on his off wing during his tenure with the Badgers, but it wasn’t his only method of putting pucks in the net.

He would show that a little later on.

The Marlies regained their lead before Caufield made a dazzling play to tie the game again. He side stepped two Marlies defenders with a slick move to open up a ton of space for himself in the slot. He then moved the puck to Xavier Ouellet who finished the play to bring the score back even at two goals apiece.

Jordan Weal also had an assist on the Ouellet goal.

Three minutes later Ryan Poehling scored a beauty goal of his own on a breakaway. The Habs first round pick in 2017 made sure that everyone remembered him after their first round pick from 2019 made things look so easy.

Poehling converted on a nice give and go with Joe Blandisi to send him in all alone. Linemate Joel Teasdale also added an assist on the goal.

The Marlies once again tied the game and then thought they had the lead. A nice shot from Tim Liljegren beat Charlie Lindgren but the whistle had gone just as he took the shot because a penalty was being called away from the play. This put the Rocket back on the man advantage instead of trailing by a goal.

They didn’t score on that power play, but shortly after Caufield broke free down the wing and fired a quick wrist shot that was stopped. He immediately pounced on the rebound and fired it into the top of the net to give the Rocket another lead.

From there, it was a Yannick Veilleux empty net goal and 27 stops on 30 shots by Lindgren that helped seal the deal in the victory.

However, there was no question that Caufield was the biggest star of the night. He had five shots on goal in his AHL debut, putting two of them in the net and made a dazzling offensive play to set up another Rocket goal.

You couldn’t have asked for anything more from Caufield last night. A Hobey Baker Award, two goals, one assist and a First Star in his first AHL game.