Canadiens' Cole Caufield eager to break scoring slump as tension builds

BUFFALO, N.Y.— The tension is palpable, and only Cole Caufield can break it.

He’s a 51-goal scorer through 82 regular-season games, but he’s sitting on one through eight games of these Stanley Cup Playoffs. And no matter how cool he plays it off the ice—he was quite composed under the four-minute barrage of questions about his slump Thursday—his ability to play fully loose and free on the ice will depend on seeing that puck hit the back of the net in the same way it always has for him.

Ideally, it would happen in Friday’s Game 2 versus the Buffalo Sabres, as Caufield and the Canadiens try to avoid going back to Montreal trailing 2-0 in this second-round series (Watch Game 2 on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ with coverage starting at 6:30 p.m. ET).

He spent all of Thursday’s optional practice working on his touches, hoping they’d put him in a frame of mind to capitalize when chances come Friday.

“Obviously, I expect more out of myself, and my teammates do too,” said Caufield. “Just trying to get better every game and just trying to make a difference.”

It’s what the 25-year-old has been able to do ever since he began playing competitive hockey.

Caufield’s scoring officially put him on the hockey world’s map at the United States National Development Team Program, where he piled up 72 goals in 64 games to shatter Auston Matthews’ record of 55 in 60 games.

That got Caufield drafted to the Canadiens 15^th overall in 2019, and then he posted 49 goals in 67 games spread over two seasons at the University of Wisconsin.

Caufield then came out of college in 2021 and scored four goals in 10 regular-season games with the Canadiens before scoring four huge ones to help them get to within three wins of their first Stanley Cup in close to three decades. And since then, he has developed into much more than just a goal scorer.

Of his complete game of late, Caufield said, “It’s probably not where I want it to be.”

Considering how much Caufield has grown across all 200 feet of the ice, that was a fair assessment.

But he knows his most tangible impact will always be felt over the 60 feet that cover the offensive zone, and the sooner he can resolve what’s happening there, the better he’ll feel on any part of the ice.

Caufield still insists he’s feeling good, and that his confidence remains intact.

“It’s still there,” he said. “Obviously, I want to be better, I want to produce more. But you can’t lack confidence in this league; once you do, that’s when you really start to struggle. Confidence is there, the positivity in this room is still going strong. There’s no worries here, just go try and continue to work harder.”

Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis agrees, and he feels the solution is in Caufield’s hands.

When asked what he can do to help Caufield, St. Louis said, “Just keep putting him out there.”

“Players are competitors,” St. Louis continued. “They’re competitive, they’re hungry, they want more. Just keep putting him out there.”

Caufield has averaged close to 19 minutes per game so far in the playoffs, but he hasn’t had the puck on his stick nearly as much as he’s accustomed to.

His shot attempts are down considerably from what they were on average through the regular season and, as a result, his shots on net are also down.

Caufield has just 14 so far.

He had 24 shots on goal in the Canadiens five-game loss to the Washington Capitals in last year’s playoffs.

The volume needs to increase, and there’s a feeling it will with the time and space Caufield was afforded in one game against the Sabres.

It was much more than he got through seven games against the Lightning.

Caufield had one power-play goal in that series, and despite scoring 41 at even strength this season, he’s still searching for one at five-on-five.

His teammates feel it’s coming.

“He always answers,” said Jake Evans on Friday. “Again, another guy that loves the game, is a big competitor. No one needs to be hard on him because he’s already hard on himself and he wants to win so badly. He had a lot of pressure to score that 50^th, and he did it, so again, another guy I’m really excited to watch tonight.”

Kaiden Guhle is eager to see Caufield respond the way he always has to pressure.

“He’s always been there, always scored big goals for us,” Guhle said. “Obviously, right now, maybe not where he wants it to be, but I don’t think anyone’s worried. I think all it takes is one, floodgates will open for him.”