There’s no doubt that Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield is one of the best goalscorers in the NHL, as evidenced by the fact that he reached the 40-goal mark on Tuesday night.
In doing so, Coffield became the first Habs player to accomplish the feat since Vincent Damphousse in 1993–94.
This gives us the perfect opportunity to take a closer look at how Caufield has scored this year, not to mention other impressive statistics capping off his stellar season.
suzuki chemistry
Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki has assisted on 20 of Caufield’s 40 goals, a testament to the undeniable chemistry they have built over the past few seasons. To make matters more interesting, 16 of those 20 assists were of the primary variety.
In other words, if Caufield scores a goal, you can be sure Suzuki isn’t far behind.
It should also be noted that phenom Lane Hutson has assisted on 14 of Caulfield’s goals, while newcomer Noah Dobson has got his name on the scoresheet on 13 occasions.
Other Canadiens players who have assisted on Caufield scoring games: Juraj Slafkowski (5), Mike Matheson (5), Ivan Demidov (3), Zachary Bolduc (2), Alexandre Texier (2), Alexandre Carriere (2), Jaden Struble (2), Jake Evans (1), and Kirby Dach (1).
atlantic threat
Caufield loves playing against special divisional foes.
It turns out that 15 of his goals have come against the Atlantic Division, with the Boston Bruins being his favorite target (6).
The Buffalo Sabers (4), Ottawa Senators (3), Florida Panthers (1), and Toronto Maple Leafs (1) account for the remaining goals, as he has yet to score against the Detroit Red Wings or Tampa Bay Lightning this season.
equivalent power output
It should be noted that 25 of Caufield’s goals have come at 5v5, which is the third-best result in the NHL. Only Tage Thompson (26) and Nathan MacKinnon (28) have scored more goals in that position.
He has also scored 5 goals in overtime, making him the most successful goalscorer on 3v3 in the league.
When we account for every goal scored at even-strength, Caufield has found the back of the net 32 times, the second-highest result in the league, behind only MacKinnon (36).
However, if we take into account ice time, Caufield leads the entire NHL in goals per 60 at even-strength with 1.95.
clutch artist
Few players around the NHL are more valuable when the game is on the line.
To be more precise, there is no player in the NHL who has won games more times than Caufield. His 9 game-winning goals are tied for first with veteran Steven Stamkos.
This means that 22.5% of Caufield’s goals this season have been game winners, which is a truly impressive feat.
Another way to look at it would be to say that Caufield’s game-winning goals have gained 18 straight points in the standings.
underlying numbers
It’s one thing to score more often than 99.99% of players in the NHL, but maintaining strong underlying numbers is also important.
This is where Caulfield’s excellence really comes into focus.
He leads the Canadiens in shot share (53.3%), he is second on the team in goal share (60.9%), and he once again finds himself at the top of the mountain when evaluating expected goal share (55.8%).
Simply put, not only is Cole Caufield one of the most dominant goalscorers in the NHL, but he leads the Montreal Canadiens in shots, scoring chances and goals scored significantly whenever he is on the ice.
He truly embodies the concept that the best defense is a good offense.
All Cole Caufield stats via Hockey Reference and Natural Stat Tricks.
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