In game 50 of the season for the Montreal Canadiens, their diminutive sniper, Cole Caufield scored his 25th goal against New Jersey Devils goaltender Jake Allen.
Cole Caufield, those hands are just unfair 🪄 pic.twitter.com/vYt7TNv7Mv
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 26, 2025
The Mosinee, Wisconsin., native reached his current career-best of 28 during the 2023-2024 campaign. Caufield achieved the feat through a full 82-game schedule. Montreal's 2019 15th overall selection, like most goalscorers, can be pretty streaky, but with 31 games to play, it would be rather surprising if he didn't score at least three more goals.
It is more of when and not if when it comes to Caufield establishing a new career-high in goals. I think that it is fair to say that Caufield will finish the 2024-2025 schedule with the most goals, assists and points in a season of his career. Caufield had 37 assists last season, and with 22 this year, he is 15 shy of tying that record.
Over a full 82 games, I think it's pretty clear that Caufield is going to shatter his previous season totals. If anything, Caufield's playmaking has improved, and with Juraj Slafkovsky heating up, the likelihood of those passes translating to goals increases significantly. Slafkovsky is having a hot second half to year three, much the same as he did in 2023-24, and that will undoubtedly improve the top line's point production.
Another encouraging factor, which remains one every season is the play of the Canadiens captain, Nick Suzuki. Suzuki flirted with point-per-game numbers last year, scoring 77 points over a full 82 games. This year, No. 14 sits at 51 points through 50 games, leaving him with 31 more games to score 26 points; if he can, which I believe he is capable of, he would match his career best.
I think there is every reason to be encouraged by the top line, and once Slafkovsky turns on the intensity, the line is very different. It's amazing how dominant the line can be, simply by Slafkovsky throwing his weight around and creating space for Suzuki and Caufield. Slafkovsky is turning a corner, and the final stretch of the season should be full of memorable points by each player on the Habs top line.
I wonder if Caufield could score 25 goals over the next 31 games, if so, then he would establish himself as a 50-goal scorer. After scoring 25 through 50 games, he would need to significantly increase his scoring frequency. A hat trick or two would be brilliant.
But first, the next three goals for Caufield are the focus, and everything else after increases his eventual career year goal total. The primary focus is one the entire team shares - finding a way to make the playoffs - and some Caufield goals would only help the cause. And given the obvious imbalance of penalties received to ones given to the opponent, more scoring would be tremendous.
What is up with the referee bias?
Look, I get it, the headline is very dramatic, but it is getting to a point where you can expect Montreal to take, at minimum a penalty for every 10 minutes they play. This destroys any chance of creating offence for four minutes each period, and the worst part isn't that for the Habs. The worst part is the fact that the Canadiens can't seem to draw any penalties, though it seems that there are too many missed calls.
Being an official has to be one of the toughest gigs in hockey. In the National Hockey League, if a referee misses a call, the 20,000 fans who saw the exact play can be a hostile bunch. It is certainly not a job for the faint of heart.
I think that it is at a point where it's too obvious that the calls are only going one way, and this isn't a one-off. Montreal seems to draw fewer penalties than their past 10 opponents, and it is taking away confidence-building reps. Montreal's top players are constantly playing from behind, and they can't even get a power play to help pull them out of deficits.
It's sad to question the officials because they are paid well because they are the best at their job. But Montreal seems to be on the wrong side of the majority of blown whistles. Battling two teams takes its toll, and at some point playing against six players and four officials is a big ask.