Cole Caufield just did what no Montreal Canadiens player had done in more than 30 seasons: he reached 50 goals. Now he carries that scoring touch into a playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, a team the Canadiens are expected to chase, not lead.
Caufield, 23, finished the regular season with 50 goals for the first time in his career, and his numbers against Tampa Bay suggest the Lightning cannot simply focus on Montreal's top line. He has three goals and three assists in 12 career games against Tampa Bay, including two goals and two assists in four games this season. Three of those points came in the teams' recent two meetings, a run that gives Montreal a threat it did not always have last spring.
That matters because the Canadiens have not been in this spot long. Last season, they were viewed as the underdog in the playoffs, then struggled to get enough secondary scoring when the games tightened. This year feels different to some in the room because of the experience they picked up against the Washington Capitals, even if the opponent now is a veteran Tampa Bay team that knows what postseason hockey demands.
Montreal's path is also complicated by the absence of Noah Dobson, who will miss the start of the series. Lane Hutson acknowledged that after practice on Thursday, another reminder that the Canadiens will have to find answers without one of their key defensemen from the opening shift onward.
That leaves Caufield not just as a scorer, but as the kind of player who can change how the series is defended. If Montreal is going to make its underdog label matter, it will need more than a hot streak from one winger. It will need that finish to hold up against a Tampa Bay team built to punish any soft spot, and the first chance to prove it comes immediately.
