BUFFALO, N.Y. — Cole Caufield stayed on the ice Thursday after an extended optional skate at KeyBank Center, taking extra work with pucks as the Montreal Canadiens’ top goal scorer tried to find his touch in the playoffs. The 51-goal winger had no goals at five-on-five through eight playoff games, and he did not hide his frustration when asked about it.
“As a whole (my game is) probably not where I want it to be,” Caufield said. “Obviously, I expect more out of myself and my teammates do too. Just trying to get better every game and just trying to make a difference.”
The extra session came after a night that again left little on the stat sheet. In the Canadiens’ 4-2 loss in Game 1 against the Buffalo Sabres, Caufield had two shot attempts. Through eight playoff games, he had 28 shot attempts in all situations, with eight of them coming in Game 6 of the first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. His season-high for shot attempts was 15 in the final game of the regular season, which matched a career high, and over his next five games combined he had 13.
That gap matters because Caufield’s regular season was the kind of offensive outburst that changes expectations. He scored 51 goals, including 40 at even strength, and entered the playoffs as the player Montreal most needed to keep finishing chances when the games tightened. Instead, the scoring has dried up at the hardest time of year, leaving the Canadiens searching for answers around one of their most dangerous shooters.
Caufield was not skating under the eye of Martin St. Louis or any of the Canadiens’ assistants on Thursday, but that did not make the work any less pointed. He regularly stays on the ice for extra work, and this time the effort came with the spotlight on his production and on the club’s concerns about his scoring touch. The veteran winger said the issue is not about confidence. “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.”
The Canadiens still have reason to believe the answer could be close. Caufield said the room has not gone quiet around him, and he framed the problem as one of execution rather than doubt. “Confidence is there, the positivity in this room is still going strong,” he said. “There’s no worries here, just go try and continue to work harder.” If that extra Thursday work carries into Game 2, Montreal could finally get the production it expected when the playoffs began.
