Canadiens’ Caufield Ties OT Goals Record as Habs Best Predators

For the second straight game, Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield scored the overtime winner, lifting the Habs over the visiting Nashville Predators 3-2 on Thursday. It was, again, his second goal of the game, giving him four in that span (and five on the season). While his second of this game lifted him into a three-way tie for the most overtime goals in team history (Howie Morenz, Max Pacioretty; 10), his first was even more dramatic.

With time winding down in the third, the Canadiens trailing 2-1 and goalie Jakub Dobes pulled, Predators forward Jonathan Marchessault looked like he had the game on his stick with a good look at the empty net. Almost living up to his new contract on a single play, defenseman Lane Hutson played goalie, getting in the way of the shot to then feed a streaking Caufield who let a wrister rip coming down the wing on goalie Juuse Saros.

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That tied the game with less 20 seconds left, setting the stage for Caufield’s second OT winner in as many games. In the extra frame, Caufield buried a feed from Nick Suzuki with even less time left on the clock. His wrister from the slot beat Saros with two second left, giving the Canadiens their fourth straight win and a suddenly impressive 4-1 record (at least much more impressive than the 3-2 one from which they were literally seconds away).

In sharp contrast to the ending, it was a fairly low-event game up until the dying minutes. Dobes only faced 19 shots, while Saros had a busier night with 30, as the Canadiens outplayed the Predators overall, but found it difficult to generate much in the way of sustainable offense.

Steven Stamkos opened the scoring midway through the second with Zachary Bolduc off for hooking. His shot from his office on the power play deflected in past Dobes off defenseman Kaiden Guhle. The Canadiens only managed to pull even six minutes into the third when, after a Hutson point shot, Oliver Kapanen collected his own rebound in front of the net and forced it past Saros.  

The Predators got that one back five minutes later when defenseman Nick Perbix beat Dobes as the play went the other way following a missed Mike Matheson opportunity in close on Saros. From then on, the pace picked up, as the Canadiens and the Bell Centre fans grew more and more desperate for the equalizer. Even they couldn’t have expected the finish that awaited them, though.

The Canadiens continue their four-game homestand on Saturday against the New York Rangers. The Predators meanwhile continue their cross-Canada road trip with a stop in Winnipeg to face the Jets, also on Saturday.