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Canadiens' Caufield displays complete game, extends point streak in win over Capitals

It took Cole Caufield three shifts to extend the longest point streak of his career on Tuesday, but he wasted no time before that in helping the Montreal Canadiens tilt the ice in a building they hadn’t won in since 2020.

They broke the spell with a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena, and Caufield’s assist on Nick Suzuki’s first goal of the night, which came just 6:42 into the first period, was a big part of that.

But perhaps more relevant was how the 23-year-old started and finished the game, and even how he produced his only point of the night to extend his streak to 10 games.

That one play was emblematic of how he’s evolved this season, as he snuck into the perfect position without the puck and forced Capitals winger Beck Malenstyn to put it right on his stick in the neutral zone. It was as beautiful as the pass he made to Suzuki, and it was just one way his all-around game shone in Washington.

Caufield was forcing turnovers from the start to help the Canadiens gain a 6-1 lead in shots and a 1-0 lead on the board, and he was just as effective in helping them maintain a three-goal lead at the end with composed and mature puck management.

Canadiens' Suzuki buries two goals in 57 seconds to open scoring vs. Capitals
Watch as Montreal Canadiens forward Nick Suzuki scores his 14th and 15th goals of the season just 57 seconds apart during the first period against the Washington Capitals.
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    He has been building up these elements of his game since the beginning of October, at times struggling to produce as a result and at other times even sacrificing some goals and assists to do it, and this game was further evidence it has all come together for him.

    There was concern it wouldn’t.

    With just eight goals through the first 30 games of the season, some were wondering if Caufield had lost some of the touch that saw him score 26 goals in 46 games before being injured last year.

    But the coach was never in doubt.

    Earlier on Tuesday, when Martin St. Louis was asked about Caufield by one of the reporters in Washington, he said, “I know we were talking a lot about Cole over the first 30 games, that he ‘wasn’t scoring, wasn’t doing anything good,’ but that wasn’t at all what I was seeing.”

    “If you just looked at the numbers, maybe that’s the impression you had,” St. Louis continued. “Cole’s a young player who’s going to score goals in this league, and it’s easy for a young player to only want to do that. But a player who scores goals, if you think about it, the percentage of time he has the puck on his stick is about five-to-10 per cent. What’s he doing for the other 90 per cent?

    “I think he was being judged on the five-to-10 per cent and being ignored for the other 90 per cent that he was working a lot on. There’s been a big improvement, and he’s made big progress on that…”

    Canadiens' Slafkovsky wires home a quick snap shot off a sweet drag move to pad lead
    Watch as Montreal Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky picks up the drop pass and uses a screen from his defender and a slick little drag to wire home a lightning-quick snap shot past Darcy Kuemper to pad the lead over the Capitals.
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      That individual progress is a big part of what will help propel the Canadiens forward.

      They need to continue to push forward as a group, as well, and they did that in the way they beat the Capitals in their first game after Sean Monahan was traded away.

      That was healthy. The Canadiens were strong for two of three periods, bending but not breaking in between, and that was an indication their culture of working hard together hasn’t suddenly been lost despite a driving force in creating it being removed.

      The power play appeared to be alright in its first test without Monahan, too, going one-for-two thanks to Juraj Slafkovsky.

      His third-period goal on the man-advantage, which was wired off the post and in on the one-timer, was scored less than three minutes after he notched his eighth goal of the season at four-on-four.

      Mike Matheson assisted on Slafkovsky’s first to set a new career high in points (35) and also picked up an assist on his second to give him 29 helpers on the season.

      And Suzuki, who assisted on Slakfovsky’s second goal of the game, finished with three points after scoring his second of the game just 57 seconds after scoring his first.

      And Samuel Montembeault was excellent in net, making 36 saves to improve to 12-7-4 on the season.

      Canadiens' Slafkovsky beats Kuemper with massive one-timer on power play
      Watch as Montreal Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky rips a one-timer past Washington Capitals goaltender Darcy Kuemper for his second goal of the game and ninth of the season.
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        That was all stuff that stood out in this first game back from the bye week.

        But what was really highlighted on Tuesday was Caufield’s complete play.

        Yes, he notched his seventh assist and 13th point in his last 10 games. Yes, people will talk about how he now has nine goals and 10 assists over his last 20 games and looks more like the player people expect him to be.

        But Caufield looks more and more like the player the Canadiens want him to become, and that’s most encouraging.

        “Cole Caufield hasn’t forgotten how to score goals, and we’ve seen that recently,” said St. Louis, “but I like the engagement of the young player who historically is a scorer. We need more than that to go where we want to go as a team.”

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