National Post (National Edition)
Will `Goal Caufield' show up for Canadiens?
Young star faces new challenge against Bolts
The expectations might seem unfair, if not a tad unrealistic. Cole Caufield is 20 years old. He is not only the youngest player on either team in the Stanley Cup final, but he is also the lowest-paid. Before these playoffs, he had appeared in only 10 games. He lacks so much NHL experience that he will still qualify as a rookie for next season.
But none of that matters any more.
If the Montreal Canadiens hope to claw back after being down 2-0 in a best-of-seven series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the diminutive Caufield needs to step up and start scoring. He needs to be a game-changer. He needs to rise above his age and get back to being the budding superstar he has been in the previous three rounds.
It's a lot to ask of a player who just completed his sophomore year of college a few months ago. And yet, the unfortunate reality is that unless Caufield can defy his age and experience, the Canadiens won't have a chance against an opponent that has allowed just two goals in two games.
After all, if the player fans have begun calling “Goal Caufield” doesn't score — who will?
“I really didn't expect this to happen in your first year, your first couple of years. But just to be in this moment you kind of enjoy it every day,” Caufield, who has no points in two games, said on Thursday. “Being around the guys, they really calm me down in certain situations where you can get kind of nervous and emotional. But they have been nothing but the best. They've kept me in the moment.
“I think this is a stage like no other. You can't really compare this to anything. I think some of the events that I had leading up to this have prepared me a lot for this moment. But it's the Stanley Cup Final and you really can't compare anything to it.”
On the list of players who need to be better, Caufield's name should not be anywhere near the top. None of Montreal's kids — including Nick Suzuki, who had the lone goal in Game 2 — should be.
There are plenty others who are being paid more to produce. Players who have been here before. Players who haven't been pulling their weight.
Tyler Toffoli, who led the Habs with 28 goals in the regular season, has gone six games without a goal.
Josh Anderson, whose 17 goals were second most on the team, has gone five games without scoring.
The last time Brendan Gallagher found the back of the net was in Game 1 against the Jets. That was a month ago for the team's highest-paid forward, who had 14 goals this year.
Caufield's last goal came in Game 6 against Vegas, when he got the last laugh in a tit-for-tat against Robin Lehner and buried a wrist shot for his fourth goal of the playoffs.
Since then, he and the rest of the team have run up against a brick wall called Andrei Vasilevskiy, who allowed one goal in Game 1 and then stopped 41 of 42 shots in Game 2.
“Obviously, some bounces didn't go our way, but that's hockey. You've got to move on and deal with it,” said Caufield, who had two shots in each of the first two games against Tampa Bay.
“No, I don't think you need the perfect shot right now in this situation. I think we've got to stick to what works and that's doing the right things that we can, what we can control. Get people in front of him so he can't see it, getting rebounds, getting guys to the net, stuff like that, just winning our battles.
“Obviously, he's a really special goaltender and someone who's really hot right now. So we've got to keep finding ways to get it past him. And I'm sure at some point we will.”
Caufield has every right to believe that the puck will eventually find the back of the net.
It's not like he isn't getting chances — his wrist shot on the power play on Wednesday night just missed the top corner — or that he hasn't faced good goaltending before. Caufield had four goals in six games against a Vegas team that had Lehner and Vezina Trophy winner Marc-Andre Fleury in net. Against Winnipeg, he had three assists in four games against Connor Hellebuyck, who was last year's Vezina Trophy winner.
Arguably, his biggest impact came in a first-round series against Toronto, where Caufield went from being a healthy scratch in the first two games to assisting on the overtime winner in Game 5 in a comefrom-behind series victory.
At times, he's made it look too easy. As though he discovered a cheat code or that his youth has given him a jump on his older opponents. So far, this is a new challenge, a new taste of adversity for a player who has yet to fail.
“I think I've dealt with adversity many times in my playing career,” said Caufield. “I think all those situations better yourself for situations like these. And I think there's just no panic in this room. I think we've been here before. We've got great leadership in the room to keep our emotions intact. I think that's how we're going forward with this.
“I think all our energy is focused on Game 3 and that's all we can control right now.”