Montreal Canadiens prospect Cole Caufield did not get off to a great start to the NHL season.
After ten games saw him score zero goals and just one assist, he was sent down to the AHL’s Laval Rocket. He played his first game of the season for the Rocket last Saturday, and though he looked like he was playing well, he couldn’t find the back of the net.
After four games with the Rocket, Caufield was still goalless though he had a pair of assists. For a guy who just filled nets with pucks at every level, it had to be incredibly frustrating to play 14 games combined between the Canadiens and Rocket without scoring a goal.
He finally found the back of the net in yesterday’s game, and he did it from a nearly impossible angle. Caufield went wide on the Utica Comets defender and found himself well below the goal line and likely headed around the net with the puck. Instead, he fired it towards the goal and it bounced off the back of the Comets goalie and into the net.
For most players, this would be described as an incredibly fortunate bounce and a lucky goal. For Caufield, it was not lucky or fortunate at all.
Caufield fired the puck at the net from every angle during his college career. It was not uncommon to see him throw two or three pucks into a goalie’s feet or try to bounce it off the back of his leg from behind the goal line during a game with the Wisconsin Badgers.
So, when he pulled it off yesterday, it wasn’t a surprise at all. In fact, you can even see him take a long look at the net before electing to shoot the puck so he knows exactly what he is doing on this goal.
À LA DEMANDE GÉNÉRALE ⬇️
— Rocket de Laval (@RocketLaval) November 13, 2021
BY POPULAR DEMAND ⬇️#GoRocket pic.twitter.com/bK6zEn7yvk
That is a filthy snipe from a ridiculous angle. Something that the best and most natural goal scorers can pull off.
It was a nice reminder that even though Caufield hasn’t been filling nets this year, he is a star goal scorer in the making and will likely burst out of this early season slump now and start the finding the back of the net regularly again like he has done throughout his entire career.