Cole Caufield is a goal away from making Montreal Canadiens history, a goal which could come tonight against the Florida Panthers.

Caufield is trying to become the first Canadiens player since Guy Lafleur in 1990 to score 50 goals in a season.

Although the 50-goal mark has been hit many times over the year — Florida’s Sam Reinhart, for instance, had 57 during the 2023-24 season — this is a huge deal in Montreal.

And, Caufield and the Canadiens have been waiting on it for some time.

Caufield has at 49 since scoring twice against the Rangers last Thursday.

Then, there is the chase for the Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard Trophy.

It has been awarded since 1999 to the NHL player with the most regular-season goals.

No Montreal player has won the trophy, one named after the late Canadiens great.

Caufield comes into tonight two goals behind Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon for the NHL lead.

NOTES: PANTHERS at CANADIENS

Matthew Tkachuk will not play tonight — and it’s for a very good reason. Tkachuk returned home in anticipation for the birth of his first child.

Aaron Ekblad was back on the ice for today’s morning skate despite having a broken finger on his right hand. He was out there, Paul Maurice said, for morale support and will not play.

If you have Comcast Xfinity cable, you will not have access to today’s game unless things change. On Tuesday, the media giant knocked off all Scripps-owned stations nationwide — including in the middle of Florida’s 6-3 win against the Senators.

Starting Goalies: The Panthers will start Daniil Tarasov again today and, perhaps for the remainder of the Canadian road trip. Jakub Dobes will go for the Canadiens.

How to Watch/Stream: The Panthers are on local TV today. It can be streamed locally on Panthers+ and nationally on ESPN+.

NHL Betting Odds: The Canadiens are heavy favorites today at -250 on the money line. If you think the Panthers will pull the upset, a $100 bet pays $190.

ON DECK: GAME No. 78

FLORIDA PANTHERS at MONTREAL CANADIENS 

PROJECTED FLORIDA PANTHERS (37-37-3) LINES

23 Carter Verhaeghe // 9 Sam Bennett // 11 Mackie Samoskevich

70 Jesper Boqvist // 27 Eetu Luostarinen // 10 A.J. Greer

79 Cole Schwindt // 92 Tomas Nosek // 18 Noah Gregor

29 Cole Reinhardt // 71 Luke Kunin // 29 Vinnie Hinostroza

42 Gus Forsling // 20 Mike Benning

6 Donovan Sebrango // 3 Seth Jones

22 Toby Bjornfot // 7 Dmitry Kulikov

40 Daniil Tarasov

72 Sergei Bobrovsky

Scratched: Nolan Foote, Matthew Tkachuk (maternity leave)

Injured: Aaron Ekblad (broken finger), Evan Rodrigues (broken finger), Sam Reinhart (foot), Niko Mikkola (knee), Anton Lundell (upper body), Uvis Balinskis (fractured foot), Brad Marchand (lower body), Sasha Barkov (knee), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body)

PROJECTED MONTREAL CANADIENS (45-22-10) LINES

13 Cole Caufield // 14 Nick Suzuki // 20 Juraj Slafkovsky

15 Alex Newhook // 91 Oliver Kapanen // 93 Ivan Demidov

76 Zachary Bolduc // 71 Jake Evans // 77 Kirby Dach

85 Alexandre Texier // 24 Phillip Danault // 17 Josh Anderson

8 Mike Matheson // 53 Noah Dobson

47 Jayden Struble // 48 Lane Hutson

21 Kaiden Guhle // 72 Arber Xhekaj

75 Jakub Dobes

32 Jacob Fowler

Scratched: Brendan Gallagher, Samuel Montembeault, Adam Engstrom

Injured: Joe Veleno (undisclosed), Alexander Carrier (upper body), Patrik Laine (lower body)