Montreal Canadiens winger Cole Caufield has just one goal in eight playoff games after a 51-goal regular season.Derik Hamilton/The Associated Press
The Montreal Canadiens had high hopes that the extra time and space afforded to them by the Buffalo Sabres – in stark contrast to the clogged-up neutral zone on offer against the Tampa Bay Lightning – would finally see Cole Caufield get back to his best.
A 51-goal scorer during the regular season – the first Canadien to eclipse the hallowed half-century mark since Stephane Richer 36 years ago – the 25-year-old forward has just one goal in eight playoff games, a power-play marker in a 3-2 loss to the Lightning in Game 4 of their first-round series.
It’s a marked departure from last year, when he led Montreal with three goals during its five-game, first-round loss to the Washington Capitals.
“As a whole, probably not where I want it to be,” he said of his overall game on Thursday in Buffalo. “Obviously I expect more out of myself and my teammates do, too. So just trying to get better every game and just try and make a difference.”
Montreal captain Nick Suzuki said before Wednesday’s 4-2 Game 1 loss that the 5-foot-8 winger is contributing in other ways, such as leading the Habs with five hits during their Game 7 win over the Lightning last Sunday. And teammate Alex Newhook, who scored the series-winning goal in that game, gave Caufield a vote of confidence on Thursday.
Sabres find life in their power-play in Game 1 win over Canadiens
“He’ll figure it out, for sure,” he said of Caufield. “He’s been a goal scorer his whole life. He’s proven he can score on big occasions in every different way this year. So I think he’ll come up big when we need him.”
Head coach Martin St. Louis doubled down on that support as the team prepared for what could be a pivotal Game 2 on Friday in Buffalo. Caufield, who was one of the few Canadiens to get out on the ice for an optional practice at KeyBank Center, will get every chance to regain his scoring touch in this series.
“Just keep putting him out there,” St. Louis said of Caufield. “Players are competitors. They’re competitive, they’re hungry, they want more. Just keep putting him out there.”
Star defenceman Lane Hutson also had a tough opener, blowing a tire near centre ice and allowing Zach Benson to set up Josh Doan for the Sabres’ opener. Despite being hyper critical of himself – “I feel like everyone kind of came ready to play, except me,” Hutson said – St. Louis has no plans to do anything other than let the offensively gifted sophomore continue to do what he does best.
Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis says he'll stay out of defenceman Lane Hutson's way in Game 2, allowing him to make up for the Game 1 loss against the Sabres.Rebecca Villagracia/Getty Images
“I don’t want to get in Lane’s way,” St. Louis said. “I just let Lane be Lane. It’s rare that he’s not ready to play, so I’m not going to stand in his way of his own preparation, how he builds his confidence. I feel like the rink is a sanctuary for him. I was the same way.”
He has no such worries with Suzuki, or ‘Suzy’ as he loves to call his captain.
Nominated for the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward earlier in the week, Suzuki came to play on Wednesday, leading all Habs forwards in ice time with 21:02 and getting Montreal on the board late in the first with a power-play goal to give his team momentum going into the intermission.
“I think he drives the bus, it’s not just one thing,” St. Louis said of a player who now leads the team with seven points in eight games. “He can defend well, offensively, obviously you know what he does, he’s a huge part of our success, and I think the guys follow his lead a lot. He’s a big-time player for us.”
The respect for Montreal’s captain extends to the opposing bench as well. While Buffalo head coach Lindy Ruff, who will coach his 150th playoff game on Friday, admits he doesn’t know Suzuki real well, he drew comparisons to Nico Hischier, his captain during his tenure in New Jersey who was also nominated for the Selke.
“A captain and great two-way player, a player that’s going to average over a point a game, a guy that you can rely on in every situation, a guy that’s a great faceoff guy,” Ruff said of Suzuki. “And for me, that’s kind of painting a picture of a coach’s dream.”
Another coach’s dream currently takes up nightly residency on the Buffalo blueline, and Rasmus Dahlin was rewarded for his outstanding play this season with a nomination for the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenceman on Thursday.
In a season where he had to leave the team at various points as his fiancée, Carolina Matovac, received a heart transplant, and the pair had to deal with the loss of their unborn child, Dahlin showed new depths of resolve and resilience to show up for his teammates and lead them back to the playoffs for the first time in 15 seasons.
But it’s those trials and tribulations that the Sabres captain credited for his improved play.
“It’s kind of funny how it works,” he said. “You grow, you get older and understand that things outside hockey is more important than actually hockey. That made me more relaxed coming to the rink, doing the work and [being at] peace if that makes sense, knowing hockey is just a game, I kind of had to understand that to take it to the next level.”