MONTREAL — The Montreal Canadiens hit an important milestone Thursday night, and it had little to do with who scored the goals in their 2-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Yes, Cole Caufield made franchise history with his 50th goal. And yes, Juraj Slafkovský’s game-winner made him the first Slovak to score 30 goals in the NHL since his idol Marián Hossa did it in 2014 with the Chicago Blackhawks. And yes, Nick Suzuki became the third-ever Canadiens player to record 70 assists in a season by setting up both of those goals, leaving him two points shy of becoming the first Canadiens player in 40 years to record a 100-point season.

Those are all significant, because they represent tangible evidence that the Canadiens core is entering the league’s elite. But they are individual milestones. And this team is not about individuals.

Caufield admitted the three previous games were stressful. He was thinking about that 50th goal more than he was thinking about the Canadiens opponent, largely because those three games came against teams not in the playoff picture.

But Thursday against the Lightning was about far more than Caufield’s milestone.

“They’re ahead of us and the team that we’ve looked at for a long time to kind of want to be like,” Caufield said. “So it definitely made me just play the game tonight and do it the right way. Obviously when the moment’s high, you’re just thinking about doing the right things out there. I think honestly that definitely helped, and a big two points for our team.”

Suzuki was ecstatic that Caufield got his 50th goal, and that he was able to set it up, as he has so many of Caufield’s goals over the years. But approaching his own milestone was of little importance to him, even though it’s been 40 years since the Canadiens had a 100-point scorer and 36 years since they had a 50-goal scorer.

“I don’t know if it means a lot,” Suzuki said. “I think winning the division would be a lot sweeter for me. I’m just trying to go out there and produce and help the team win. It’s more fun setting up Cole for his 50th.”

This is emblematic of this Canadiens team, and that their captain feels this way says a lot.

Because the milestone the Canadiens hit as a team Thursday night is that the Lightning are no longer necessarily something for them to aspire to be. Suzuki and Caufield were in the lineup when the Canadiens lost to the Lightning in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, a loss that triggered a rebuild in Montreal in the hopes they would one day reach the Lightning’s level.

And throughout that rebuild, with Suzuki, Caufield, Slafkovský and Lane Hutson as the centrepieces from the very start, the Lightning have set the standard to reach in the Atlantic Division.

“I feel like there’s teams that have been the bar a little bit, and I feel like we got closer and closer to these teams,” said Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis, a Lightning legend. “Where exactly are we compared to them? The standings might say something, but the reality is we’ve closed the separation. Are we above, are we below? It doesn’t matter. I’m not worried about the standings. It’s close. Being close doesn’t guarantee anything, you’ve just got to go play the games and you’ve got to be dialed in when you play those teams. I feel like we did that tonight.”

More so than Caufield’s 50th goal or Slafkovský’s 30th or Suzuki’s 70th assist or 98th point, the Canadiens’ ability to elevate and play a nasty game and come out on top is what should give them hope that the playoff hockey that awaits them next week, whether that’s against the Lightning or the Buffalo Sabres or the Boston Bruins if they manage to win the division, will not overwhelm them as it did a year ago.

And no one personifies that more than Hutson.

He was a target for the Washington Capitals in the playoffs last year because they identified him as critical to the Canadiens’ success. And because he is undersized, he made for an easy target. Hutson was thrown off the first two games in Washington, but then adjusted and left a positive impact on the series for the Canadiens.

Thursday morning, Hutson was asked about that experience and how it might help him when he’s inevitably targeted again in the playoffs.

“I’ve kind of felt glimpses of it all year, there’s some teams that play pretty hard,” Hutson said. “After last year, maybe one of the harder first-round matchups you could get with the physicality aspect, so learning from that and taking what I’ve learned about where to be and how quickly the puck has to come off your stick, I feel more confident going into this playoffs.”

A few hours later, Hutson used that experience in the regular season. The Lightning targeted Hutson all night, particularly Corey Perry, because that is what he does. Hutson did not flinch and impacted the game both offensively and defensively, despite being kept off the scoresheet.

After the game, his face was mangled, with a cut across the bridge of his nose and what looked like a rug burn on his chin. He looked like he had come out of a war. And he was smiling.

“You could feel it coming,” Hutson said postgame. “Like I said, there’s been games this year like that, and I feel like I’m getting more comfortable with it. It’s a fun, intense game to be a part of.

“Sometimes you’ve just got to take a couple of punches, I guess.”

Juraj Slafkovský’s landmark goal helped the Canadiens to a win over the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday night. (Eric Bolte / Imagn Images)

This was a test for the Canadiens. The Lightning were highly motivated coming to the Bell Centre, having lost similarly significant games in Buffalo and Ottawa. They knew the Canadiens were a likely first-round opponent, and they wanted to send a message.

The Canadiens, led by Josh Anderson, sent a message of their own instead. Anderson was a menace all night, targeting Lightning superstar Nikita Kucherov in a very similar way to how Perry targeted Hutson.

“You love to be in those situations. It fuels you,” Anderson said. “He’s a guy who can hurt you in so many different ways. He’s very smart, skilled, can score, so just being hard on him. Just letting him know it’s not going to be an easy night.”

The Canadiens will be in those situations a lot in the coming days and weeks. A year ago, they were not a playoff-hardened team, and it showed. They’re still not quite playoff-hardened the way the Lightning are, but it shows significantly less.

And it comes down to how happy everyone was that Caufield got his 50th goal, how they felt it was an accomplishment for all of them. And, in turn, how happy Caufield was to see Slafkovský score his 30th goal, the game-winner. And in between, how everyone wearing a Canadiens uniform battled in the trenches to show how prepared they are for the nasty reality of playoff hockey.

“I just feel it’s a pack,” St. Louis said. “They’re so together. They love each other. They’ve got each other’s back. They celebrate everyone. They’re a selfless group. They’re doing a lot of things that benefit the group, not just the individual. It’s fun to watch.”