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Dans les coulisses

Cole Caufield will be used more often at the end of games to score more goals

For some years now, we’ve been waiting for a natural marker like Cole Caufield in Montreal.

Now that Caufield is firmly rooted in the metropolis, we want to do everything we can to get him to score. After all, that’s what makes him so useful to a club.

At present, the 22 is on track to score around 30 goals. That’s still a long way from the 40 (or even 50) that many predicted at the start of the season. But don’t worry, Martin St-Louis is doing all he can to give him as many chances as possible.

He’s even started putting him on ice when the team is up by two goals late in the game and the other team has pulled their goalie.

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For Caufield to score, he needs to be confident. St-Louis understands that he has to give him as many opportunities as possible to keep his confidence high from game to game.

The diminutive forward isn’t known for his defensive play, and that’s why he’s on the ice with a two-goal lead (not a one-goal lead). Because if you get scored on early by two, it’s not the end of the world.

Montreal used this strategy for the first time against the Buffalo Sabres almost two weeks ago. That’s what the coach told Félix Séguin. It didn’t happen a second time, as Montreal has never enjoyed such a comfortable lead at the end of a game since.

In the NHL, this strategy (sending your leading scorer into an empty net) is not new. Max Pacioretty scored 17 goals in an empty net during his time in Montreal, and Alex Ovechkin, for the past few years, has been sent into the fray at the end of games to close in on Wayne Gretzky’s goal-scoring record.

The strategy has paid off for the Capitals’ captain, as since 2017-2018, he has 29 goals in such circumstances.

Caufield is/will therefore be used in more defensive situations at the end of the game, but he also plays on the first power play unit and on the first trio, along with the team’s best playmaker, Nick Suzuki. Yes, under MSL, he’s used in the best possible conditions.

Being rooted in the metropolis for the next eight years, he won’t be able to use the number of goals argument to increase the amount of his next contract. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why this strategy wasn’t used earlier.

Four goals in 11 games isn’t bad production, but it’s clearly not what you’d expect from a born striker like Caufield.

In bursts

– He’s very bad indeed.

– Mathew Barzal fined.

– Even at 46, he’s in great shape.

– Really?

– Adam Johnson’s passing was a real eye-opener.

– By the way, his death affects everyone.