Montreal Canadiens sniper Cole Caufield extended his goal streak to four games on Sunday night against the New York Rangers.
The 5 foot 7 winger scored his fourth goal in as many games, in career game 200. It hasn't been the season that Caufield would have hoped for, in terms of goal production, but he has been consistent all year. Goals have started to come recently, but what hasn't wavered is his improved game through all three zones.
#Habs Cole Caufield banks one in off of the #NYR goalie to open the scoring for Montreal late in the 1st period -- in his 200th #NHL game no less!
— Priyanta Emrith (@HabsInHighHeels) April 7, 2024
Despite the goal-scoring slowing down, he has done everything in his power to impact the game positively. Fortunately for him, it has worked out well, even if he isn't involved in every single point from the top line. Though he has been a contributor on a fair amount of tallys from Juraj Slafkovsky and Nick Suzuki.
Coming off his shoulder surgery, it was expected that he would score at a rampant rate and it appears that he might have thought the same. Regardless of what anybody expected of him, it hasn't happened that way, but it isn't his style to hang his hat because of it. With all the improvements he has made, Martin St. Louis isn't disappointed and that's because he knows that Caufield will head into next season as a better all-around player.
His goal against Rangers netminder Igor Shesterkin showed off his poise around the net and his high hockey IQ. Caufield failed to capitalize on his first chance, putting it off Shesterkin's pad. But he smartly grabbed the rebound and banked it off of the goaltender's skate into the net for his 24th of the season, two shy of his career-high (26) from last year.
The goal was one that isn't as easy as he made it look and the fact that he was able to collect the puck and pop it in as he did, is a reason to feel positive. It wasn't so long ago that he was slumping under Dominique Ducharme and a goal like that couldn't have been imagined. So, given that he was able to score that one, is proof that the puck luck wasn't in his favour and more shots missed the net than ones that hit and were saved.
For the Canadiens, there are a few different areas of concern, but Caufield not hitting 50 goals in his third season isn't one of them. He is the purest shooter on the team, and with a full offseason where he is healthy, it is bound to be an interesting season next year. Suzuki is already playing at an elite level and Slafkovsky keeps on getting better, Caufield is one point shy of 60, in what has been considered by many as a down year, in terms of production.
If this has been a down year, I can't wait to see what he does in a year that he plays excellent.