Just like Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield had planned it… probably. In scoring his historic 40th goal of the season, he won the game for the Habs as they defeated the Atlantic Division-rival Boston Bruins 3-2 in overtime on Tuesday at the Bell Centre.
On the play, Nick Suzuki fed Caufield with a backdoor pass. Caufield made no mistake putting it past Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman into the yawning cage to become the franchise’s first 40-goal scorer since Vincent Damphousse in 1993-94. The contest marked Caufield’s third straight game with a goal. It was his eighth goal in his last nine games, putting him on pace for 49 over 81 games, with him missing one last week due to illness.
Caufield’s goal also came at an opportune time, with just 22 seconds left in the extra frame, but most significantly with the Canadiens trying to avoid a third straight loss. Even prior to dropping their last two games to the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks, this one was represented a must-win situation, based on the proximity of the two teams in the standings.
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The wild-card Bruins, now 37-23-8 for 82 points, are two points back of the 37-20-10 Canadiens, who hold a game in a hand, while holding down third place in the Atlantic. The Habs face another must-win situation on Thursday, as they visit the wild-card Detroit Red Wings, who have the same record as the Bruins, but have fallen down to the second wild-card spot by virtue of missing out on the regulation-wins tiebreaker (27 wins vs. 26).
Against the Bruins, the Canadiens overcame 1-0 and 2-1 deficits, to earn their league-high 22nd comeback victory of the year. Pavel Zacha scored both goals for the Bruins, while Suzuki and Josh Anderson countered for the Habs. Of note, the last Habs forward to score 50 in a season was Stephane Richer, in 1989-90, when he notched 51.
