MONTREAL, QC. — The goal drought for a 50-goal scorer in Montreal is officially over. On Thursday night at the Bell Centre, Cole Caufield etched his name into the history books, becoming the first Montreal Canadiens player to reach the 50-goal milestone in 36 years.
The Landmark Goal
The historic moment came at 6:30 of the second period against the Tampa Bay Lightning. On a fast-paced rush, captain Nick Suzuki feathered a pass to Caufield in the right circle. Without hesitation, the 25-year-old winger fired a laser past Andrei Vasilevskiy’s blocker side to open the scoring and ignite a deafening roar from the Montreal faithful.
The goal ended a rare three-game scoring drought for Caufield, marking his 29th goal in his last 31 games—a scorching pace that has seen him climb to the top of the NHL leaderboards.
Joining the Legends of the Forum
Caufield becomes only the seventh player in the illustrious history of the Canadiens to hit the 50-goal mark. He joins an elite pantheon that includes:
- Maurice «Rocket» Richard (The first in NHL history)
- Bernie «Boom Boom» Geoffrion
- Guy Lafleur (Six consecutive seasons)
- Steve Shutt
- Pierre Larouche
- Stephane Richer (The last to do it in 1989-90)
The Race for the «Rocket»
Caufield is now just one goal behind Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon in the race for the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy. Ironically, despite the trophy being a gift from the Canadiens to the NHL in 1999, no Montreal player has ever won it. In fact, Caufield is the only Hab to even cross the 40-goal threshold since the award’s inception.
«You’d be crazy not to know what’s going on around the League,» Caufield admitted to the media with a laugh when asked about the race for the trophy. «Still hungry. A couple more games to go.»