Cole Caufield credits team for helping him through playoff goal drought

It was only a matter of time until Cole Caufield logged a goal on the stat sheet for the Montreal Canadiens. The story throughout these playoffs has been Caufield pulling a bit of a disappearing act throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which came as a shock considering he scored 51 goals in the regular season. Sometimes, it just takes a bit of patience.

That patience paid off on Sunday night.

In Game 3 against the Buffalo Sabres, Caufield scored a goal on the power play in the second period to help the Canadiens take a 2-1 lead, A lead they ultimately wouldn't relinquish. This was the first goal that Caufield scored since game 4 against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the opening round. Caufield also notched an assist on Juraj Slafkovsky's power play goal to give Montreal a 4-1 lead.

After the game, Caufield was interviewed by Sportsnet's Kyle Bukauskas and when asked about breaking his slump in the playoffs, he credited his teammates for picking him up.

"There's so much to go with it, but getting chances and doing your job defensively. Being responsible. Couldn’t be more proud of this group for picking me up when I was struggling," said Caufield.

Cole Caufield credits Canadiens teammates for helping him through playoff slump

The goal could not have come at a better time for Caufield, especially to help the Canadiens take a 2-1 series lead over the Sabres following a dominant 6-2 victory on Sunday.

It's well known that Montreal's top line, featuring Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Slafkovsky, was struggling, notably on even strength. Yet for Caufield, he did not record a single point since his Game 4 goal against Tampa Bay, where he had 10 shots on goal during that five-game stretch. Each passing game, the noise got louder for Caufield to break out of his slump.

Before Game 2, Caufield spoke with reporters, saying that he expected more from himself and he could not let the slump affect his confidence.

"I want to be better. I want to produce more, but you can't lack confidence in this league," said Caufield, h/t TSN. "Once you do, I think that's when you really start to struggle. The confidence is there, obviously, and the positivity in this room is still going strong.

“There's no worries here … just going to try and continue to work harder."

The Canadiens have looked like the better team in these last two games against the Sabres. The confidence should only build in the fanbase and the team now that their leading scorer is now a factor. Maybe, this will be the start of a streak for Caufield, one that will propel the Canadiens to the Eastern Conference Finals.

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