I don't believe it's a shoulder issue. He's getting much more attention from opposing teams and he is struggling. There is less space for him in the offensive zone.
Apart of being a good hockey player is knowing your limitations. The dude late in the third had the puck behind his net, tried to break out and got stripped. Not the first time. He should never try to carry the puck no matter the situation on 3 v 3. And then he expects his forwards to bail him out. Suzuki should've never been in that situation where he was so deep out of the zone the camera couldn't see him on screen when the Bruins gained possession
I hear ya. When i saw CC attack the scrum from down low, i was like... WTF dude.
He actually hasn't been terrible this year 5 on 5
I agree. He's turned a corner as of late. I think he was bothered by his shoulder for a good part of the season. He looks healthy now.
The plays dying on that left side exceed the plays that die on the right side yet we continually defer to the left side.
Suzuki was already so far out of the zone you couldn't see him. I'm not saying Caufield made the right decision but Matheson made the worst decision on the play.
Not worried about Cole either. That being said, he needs to score considerably more than he has this season. We aren’t paying him nearly 8 million to be more well rounded at the cost of his goalscoring. Even if he will be a 65 point scorer per season, he’s gotta score around 40.
Caufield's decision directly led to the goal against. Matheson tried a play that didn't work. That never should have resulted in a 2 on 1 the other way. That's unacceptable for a 2 on 1 to happen when Matheson is in a battle with 2 Bruins in the corner.
This is more of a problem of how they use Caufield. Dude is too pick dominant even though he's not. What I mean is he has the play F3 all the time. Fly the zone and look for open space. Not try to cycle. I suspect as Slaf gets more confident, Caufield will look so much better. Just look at last year when he had Dach and Suzuki. He was able to play more natural to himself as Dach is very puck dominant
yeah, both these things can be true.
I don't see it so we will have to agree to disagree. He is a tiny player, probably the smallest forward in the league. Teams are using it against him, they aren't giving him that extra second to shoot as they used to and he can't create his own space because of the size issue. Many posters here predicted a 50-goal scorer but I saw 30-ish goals.
Ok you're right, it was Caufield's fault that our idiot defensemen tried to do it all himself and gave up the puck instead of setting up in the zone. Just keep blindly pumping #8's tires.
They are going to him because of his early success in the league and as an attempt to get him going but I agree, it doesn't work.
Shhhhh! But it was Caufield's fault that Matheson pulled his usual boneheaded play and gave up the puck
He's not a great fit with Suzuki if Nick is going to be tasked with shutdown and will be playing that 3F by default.
Not necessarily. One of my biggest gripes about the 2021 playoffs and the Canadiens in general that year was putting too much emphasis on forwards for break outs. This is alien to most Habs fans as price broke out half the plays most of the game which is why they averaged a goal more when he was in net. Suzuki shouldn't have to always be deep in the zone. That's a sign that either your defence is crap or your defensive coach is crap and can't scheme defensive plays. Yes he'll be low on the zone but it's not so low that he can't make it in transition. Also I have no problem with Caufield carrying through the neutral zone sometimes. I was talking in respects to o zone cycling mostly which both Dach and Suzuki are proficient in and Caufield not so much
I didn't like the 1v3 at all.
