Cole Caufield broke a three-game goalless streak on Thursday and in the process scored his 50th goal of the season becoming the first Montreal Canadiens in 36 years to reach that milestone. The Habs got a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning and moved into second place in the Atlantic Division.

There are several key figures that have helped Caufield establish himself as a top scorer in the NHL, but perhaps none have had the significant impact as late great Johnny Gaudreau. The two formed a close bond during the 2024 IIHF World Championship, a few months before the former Blue Jackets forward’s tragic passing in an accident.

After the game on Thursday, the 25-year-old winger gave an emotional tribute to Gaudreau.

“I guess he’s behind me and he’s looking down on us,” Caufield said after the game. “Everybody who he knew, he made them a better person. I wish I could give him a hug right now.”

Caufield was heavily influenced by Gaudreau’s work ethic as a fellow smaller player. After Gaudreau’s death, Caufield honored his mentor by switching from the #22 to #13 in Montreal.

The 15th overall pick from the 2019 NHL Draft scored at 6:30 in the second period from a pass from his captain Nick Suzuki and beat Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevsky on his blocker side. The goal ensured the Habs took the lead in the crunch encounter. The Lightning tied the score early in the third but the Habs scored the winning goal at 2:37 via Juraj Slafovsky.

Cole Caufield relieved after breaking out of 49-goal curse

After scoring 28 goals in 27 games, Caufield hit an untimely drought when he was unable to find the net in the previous three games for the Canadiens. Their collective play looked to be affected too as his teammates tried to direct the puck more towards him.

“I’m not going to lie, I was pretty stressed out the past couple of days,” Caufield said. “But that’s what makes this place so special and that’s why it’s so cool for me and my teammates and coaches and family to kind of take this in and enjoy it.

“Honestly, it felt like it was never going to come for a couple of days. It was three games and it felt like forever, but I’m just glad it’s kind of over with now and we can get back to work. We’ve still got a couple more big games left.”

With three games left, Caufield will have a chance to pass Stephane Richer, the last to score 50 goals in a season for the Canadiens and the next on the all-time single-season goalscoring list for the team in history. The record is held by Steven Shutt and Guy Lafluer with 60 goals.