The Montreal Canadiens are in action against their historic Original Six and Atlantic Division foe Toronto Maple Leafs at Bell Centre, and have taken a 1-0 lead into the dressing room after 40 minutes of play thanks to Habs forward Cole Caufield, who struck on the power play.
The only goal of the game through the first 40 minutes of play, Caufield one-timed a cross-ice pass from a teammate Juraj Slafkovsky past the blocker of a sprawled Anthony Stolarz, giving Montreal the early advantage:
With his goal, Cole Caufield joined a notable group in Canadiens franchise history. He became the first player since Vincent Damphousse to score in three consecutive regular-season openers. Damphousse achieved this in 1992, 1993, and 1994, while Caufield has now matched the feat in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Cole Caufield is in his fifth full NHL season with the Canadiens
A Wisconsin native, Caufield was considered one of the top NHL prospects as the 2019 Draft approached. He would eventually be taken with the 15th overall selection by the Canadiens in the 2019 NHL Draft, though he spent most of his first two years continuing his college education while suiting up for the University of Wisconsin.
He’s also suited up for Montreal’s American Hockey League affiliate Laval Rocket during his career; he became a full-time member of the Habs starting in the 2021-22 season, appearing in 67 games and scoring 23 goals with 20 assists.
However, he gained valuable postseason experience as he was summoned to the Habs from the AHL ahead of their surprise run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, a series they lost in five games. Caufield skated in 20 games, scoring four goals with eight assists.
He’s played in a total of 205 NHL regular season games, scoring 81 goals with 68 assists. He also announced that he switched uniform numbers, now wearing No. 13 in honor of the late Johnny Gaudreau, who was tragically killed in late August while cycling by a drunken driver.
