Stu Cowan: Canadiens' Cole Caufield, Mike Matheson join elite company

Caufield sixth winger in Habs history to score 60 goals in 150 games or less, while defenceman Matheson hits 50-point mark in 70 games.

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Cole Caufield joined some elite company Wednesday when he scored in the Canadiens’ 4-2 win over the Blue Jackets in Columbus.

It was the seventh goal this season for the 22-year-old and his 60th in 145 career NHL games.

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According to TSN StatsCentre, Caufield is only the sixth winger in Canadiens history to score 60 goals in 150 games or less. Billy Boucher holds the record, doing it in 75 games, followed by Aurèle Joliat (77), Maurice Richard (83), Joe Benoit (135) Caufield (145) and Bernie Geoffrion (150).

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You’re probably asking now: Who is Billy Boucher?

Boucher played with the Canadiens from 1921-27. During his first three years, the NHL schedule was only 24 games and Boucher had seasons with 17, 23 and 16 goals. The Canadiens won the Stanley Cup in 2014, Boucher’s third season when he missed one game. The next season, when the NHL season was expanded to 30 games, Boucher scored four goals in the first four games to hit the 60 mark.

While Joliat, Richard and Geoffrion are all Hall of Famers, you might be asking: Who is Joe Benoit? He played with the Canadiens from 1940-47.

You might also be asking: What about Guy Lafleur? It took Lafleur 151 games to reach the 60-goal mark. Lafleur scored 29 goals in 73 games as a rookie in 1971-72, scored 28 goals in 69 games the next season and scored his 60th goal nine games into his third season.

Heading into this season, it looked like Caufield would reach the 60-goal mark much quicker than he did. Before the season started, Caufield had scored 48 goals in 83 games since Martin St. Louis took over as head coach. Caufield scored 26 goals in 46 games last season and was on pace to finish with 46 before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury that required surgery. This season, Caufield is on pace to finish the 82-game season with 26 goals.

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Heading into Thursday night’s game against the Panthers at the Bell Centre, Caufield ranked seventh for most goals by a Canadien before turning 23, according to TSN StatsCentre. Stéphane Richer tops that list with 116, followed by Mario Tremblay (90), Geoffrion (85), Alex Galchenyuk (84), Henri Richard (79), Lafleur (78), Caufield (60), Claude Lemieux (60) and Brendan Gallagher (58).

Former Canadiens GM Serge Savard had high praise when I asked him about Caufield at the end of last season.

He reminds me of a guy like (Yvan) Cournoyer,” Savard said about the 5-foot-8, 175-pound Caufield. “He’s built like Cournoyer. He’s not tall, but he’s bulky and strong. He’s got a great shot and Yvan had a great shot. Yvan was a 40-goal scorer and this guy will be. He has a lot of quick speed like Yvan. I know they’re different, but there are similarities between the two.

Boucher wasn’t tall, either, at 5-foot-7 and 155 pounds.

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Wednesday’s game was the fourth straight that Caufield was on a line with Christian Dvorak and Juraj Slafkovsky and they are starting to develop some chemistry. Caufield had two goals during that span with Slafkovsky assisting on both of them.

“He’s been great lately,” Caufield told reporters in Columbus when asked about the 19-year-old Slafkovsky. “I think he’s getting his confidence and you can just see the poise that he has with the puck a little bit more now. It’s something that he’s been working at. We’re just going to continue to grow his game and we’re very proud of him.

“The more you play with a guy the easier it gets,” Caufield added. “I think the communication on the bench, in between periods, off the ice has been growing. He’s obviously still a young guy and there’s always going to be things to work on, but I like where his game’s turning right now and he’s a lot of fun to play with. … I might tell him to shoot a little bit more. I don’t mind shooting it, but he gets looks in the slot. You learn from experience and I think he’s going to do that. He’s a great player. He’s going to take time, but he’s making every day count.”

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Defenceman Mike Matheson also joined some elite company Wednesday when he picked up two assists against the Blue Jackets, giving him 5-12-17 totals this season. That gave the 29-year-old 51 points (13 goals, 38 assists) in 70 games since joining the Canadiens. According to TSN StatsCentre, only two defencemen in history have hit the 50-point mark faster with the Canadiens. Sprague Cleghorn did it in 64 games in the 1920s and Chris Chelios did it in 66 games in the 1980s. Cleghorn and Chelios are both Hall of Famers.

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Behind Matheson on that list are Tom Kurvers (86 games), Shea Weber (90) and Guy Lapointe (93).

Offence is a big problem with the current Canadiens, who ranked 27th in the NHL in that category heading into Thursday night’s game, scoring an average of 2.77 goals per game. Caufield and Alex Newhook were tied for the team lead with seven goals each, but there were 69 players in the NHL with more goals. Caufield (7-11-18) led the Canadiens in scoring, but only ranked 68th in the NHL. Matheson ranked 13th among NHL defencemen in scoring.

The Canadiens will be counting heavily on Caufield and Matheson — along with Slafkovsky — to provide more offence as the team’s rebuilding process continues.

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