{"id":549749,"date":"2026-04-10T19:12:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T19:12:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/549749\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T19:12:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T19:12:24","slug":"caufield-becomes-seventh-player-in-canadiens-history-to-record-50-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/549749\/","title":{"rendered":"Caufield becomes seventh player in Canadiens history to record 50 goals"},"content":{"rendered":"

MONTREAL \u2014 Cole Caufield<\/a> started to wonder if it would ever come.<\/p>\n

Stuck one goal shy of a historic milestone for three straight games, he could feel the weight building with every shift and near miss.<\/p>\n

But after finally breaking through Thursday night, Caufield is a 50-goal scorer \u2014 the first for the Montreal Canadiens<\/a> in 36 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see it everywhere. Not going to lie, I was pretty stressed out the past couple days,\u201d Caufield said in a press conference room packed with reporters. \u201cBut that’s what makes this place so special, and that’s why it’s so cool for me and my teammates and coaches and family to take this in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caufield beat Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy with a wrist shot at 6:29 of the second period to reach the half-century milestone, sending a frenzied Bell Centre crowd \u2014 including Prime Minister Mark Carney \u2014 to its feet.<\/p>\n

Linemates Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky assisted on the goal, jumping into the glass in celebration as the playoff-bound Canadiens opened the scoring en route to a 2-1 victory. The heated game had a little bit of everything, with fights, big hits and a dramatic finish.<\/p>\n

The building hit ear-splitting decibels when public address announcer Michel Lacroix belted Caufield\u2019s name over the microphone. In the stands, Caufield’s father, Paul, clapped and wiped tears from his eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably couldn’t have drawn it up a better way with those two guys grabbing the assist. I don’t know, it’s cool to have my dad in the building and to see his reaction,\u201d said Caufield, who trails Nathan MacKinnon by two goals for the league lead. \u201cIt was pretty special and it means a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old American is the seventh player in the Canadiens\u2019 116-year history to score 50 goals in a single season, joining St\u00e9phane Richer, Guy Lafleur, Pierre Larouche, Steve Shutt, Bernie Geoffrion and Maurice Richard.<\/p>\n

Richer was the last to do it, hitting 50 for the second time on March 24, 1990, against the since-relocated Hartford Whalers.<\/p>\n

The hottest topic on sports radio across the hockey-crazed city, Caufield\u2019s chase had become unavoidable since he scored his 48th and 49th goals last Thursday against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n

Travelling Canadiens diehards pressed up against the glass with signs urging him on during Saturday\u2019s win in New Jersey. In Sunday\u2019s home loss to the Devils, one spectator held up the No. 50 in big gold birthday balloons, and fans cheered in anticipation each time Caufield leapt over the boards.<\/p>\n

After being held off the scoresheet again Tuesday against Florida, Caufield broke through Thursday, taking a feed from Suzuki off the rush and firing a shot past Vasilevskiy blocker side.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was three games, and it felt like forever,\u201d Caufield said. \u201cI’m sorry if it took a long time for the fans, if they paid money for the games before \u2014 I see those messages (laughs). But no, it’s a special building to play in, and these fans, their passion, it shows every night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suzuki, who\u2019s now two points from reaching 100, said he was happy to play a role in Caufield\u2019s history-making goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot a lot of guys in history have done that,\u201d the Canadiens captain said. “I wouldn’t say it was like a distraction. I think subconsciously, maybe forcing plays to Cole, him maybe just gripping the stick a little bit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s just special to see him and all the work that he puts in, how he gets rewarded for it.”<\/p>\n

The milestone continues an impressive run for the undersized five-foot-eight, 175-pound winger, who has scored 29 times in his last 31 games, often beating netminders with his pinpoint shot from sharp angles.<\/p>\n

Caufield\u2019s 50 goals include 12 game-winners \u2014 five in overtime \u2014 40 even-strength goals and 10 power-play markers. He hit the milestone without scoring an empty-net goal, something he\u2019s never done in his career.<\/p>\n

In 78 games this season, the 15th overall draft pick in 2019 has 50 goals and 87 points, both career highs.<\/p>\n

Under head coach Martin St. Louis, Caufield has also developed into a well-rounded player at both ends after entering the league as a pure scorer.<\/p>\n

“I don’t know if there’s a guy to thank more,\u201d Caufield said of St. Louis. \u201cHe gave me not only an opportunity but definitely some confidence, and he taught me how to play the game the right way.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe always says he’s not going to teach me how to score, but I think deep down he knows he did.\u201d<\/p>\n

St. Louis pushed back on that idea, turning the spotlight back on Caufield.<\/p>\n

“As a coach, you can bring your players or your team to a certain level, but it’s up to them to take it even higher. I can’t make Cole Caufield score 50 goals,\u201d he said. \u201cI’m proud of Cole, the way he plays the game. He’s not just a 50-goal-scorer playing on the perimeter, he isn’t just that.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the human behind it, I’m even more proud of that. He really helps what we’ve built, what we continue to build, in terms of culture, commitment, enthusiasm. He\u2019s contagious.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MONTREAL \u2014 Cole Caufield started to wonder if it would ever come. Stuck one goal shy of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":537898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5103],"tags":[265,5,264,21,5147,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-549749","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-montreal-canadiens","8":"tag-canadiens","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-montreal","11":"tag-montreal-canadiens","12":"tag-montrealcanadiens","13":"tag-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116382003748222352","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/537898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}