Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield did not start the third period of Tuesday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
He did not play the latter half of the second period and did not start the third period on his usual line. Instead, Ivan Demidov skated alongside Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky.
The Canadiens led the Leafs 2-1 after two periods.
Caufield remained on the Canadiens bench through the first half of the third period.
He took his first shift with just over eight minutes remaining in the frame for a Canadiens’ power play. Caufield would take one more shift, on another Canadiens power play, before heading to the locker room with under two minutes remaining and the Habs defending the 2-1 lead against an empty net.
Caufield, 25, has 37 goals and 64 points in 62 games entering tonight’s contest. He is one goal away from setting a new career high after scoring 37 last season.
The Stevens Point, Wisconsin native has tallied 155 goals and 283 points in 349 career games.