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Bottom Six Minutes: Cole Caufield is so back

Oct 12, 2024; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens right wing Cole Caufield (13) plays the puck against Ottawa Senators defenseman Nick Jensen (3) during the third period at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images

With a 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators, the Montreal Canadiens turned in their best performance of this young season. Samuel Montembeault stood tall once again, their much-maligned special teams were clicking, and they controlled the game in a way we hadn’t seen in their previous two contests. If this is the team rounding into form, they should provide some very watchable hockey from here on out.

Speaking of rounding into form, while it could certainly be argued that he never left, Cole Caufield is back in a big way.

This was a preposterous shot. With a defender in his way, and the goaltender hugging the post, Caufield has a puck-sized hole to shoot at, and he hits it. Near the bottom of the faceoff circle, he’s at a pretty tough angle to shoot from at all, let alone pick the top corner on the short side. This is the kind of goal that is usually reserved for the elite shooters of the NHL. Caufield’s shot has always been known to be in the realm of elite, but he’s on a new level to start this season.

He’s currently shooting at a decidedly unsustainable 40% success rate, a far cry from last year’s 8.9%. But with how good of a shooter he is, last year’s mark was an anomaly of its own, and he’s overdue for a regression to the mean. His current pace won’t hold, but if he regresses to a manageable 14% for instance, that should be enough to see him cross the 40-goal mark. With his shooting volume last year, 14% would have been good for 43 goals, so it’s a completely reasonable target with how he’s shooting in the early goings of this season.

Even last year, as down of a year as it was for his shooting, he set a career-high for points. He was playing great hockey. The only thing missing was a little puck luck, and he’s getting that to start this season.

He won’t stay this hot all year, but if he keeps playing the way he is, he’ll set another career mark when all is said and done.

Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available wherever you get your podcasts. We’ll be back on Thanksgiving Monday when the Habs will host Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

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