Cole Caufield ended it 54 seconds into overtime, and the Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 at the Bell Centre on Saturday night. It was Montreal’s second win over Buffalo in five days, and it started the same way the first one did, with a two-goal lead that did not last. This time the Canadiens did not need a shootout to finish the job.
Caufield Ends It Early
Nick Suzuki won the opening faceoff of overtime, and Lane Hutson put the first shot on net inside the first ten seconds. Then Buffalo had its chance, a 3-on-1 rush that ended with a Josh Norris shot missing the net at 0:45. Montreal went the other way, and nine seconds later Caufield was in alone on a breakaway. He snapped it past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen for the win, unassisted.
Martin St-Louis could laugh about the sequence afterward. “We’re happy with the result. But you watch the play and they had a three-on-one. I’m thinking, this isn’t serious, and then they miss the net,” he said, pleased that the puck ended up on Caufield’s stick.
Jacob Fowler had seen it in practice. “When Cole comes in like that, it is very hard on the goalie. Let’s say the odds are high in Cole’s favour, and even more on a Saturday night in overtime,” he said with a smile. Caufield has now scored 11 goals in his last 10 regular-season games against Buffalo.
It was his second goal of the night and his fifth of the season in eight games. He finished with five shots on goal, tied with Zachary Bolduc for the team lead. Caufield, Alexandre Carrier and Bolduc were named the three stars.
The goal was the 14th overtime goal of his career, which ties him with Kirill Kaprizov and Sebastian Aho for the most in the NHL since Caufield debuted in 2020-21. It also ties Connor McDavid, who has 14, for the most overtime goals in league history by a player aged 25 or younger. His 36 career game-winning goals tie Bernie Geoffrion for second among Canadiens skaters at age 25 or younger, behind only Guy Lafleur’s 45.
Saturdays have been good to him. The two goals gave Caufield 66 career goals on a Saturday in 106 games, or 0.62 per game. Among players with at least 50 Saturday goals since 1943-44, that ties Pavel Bure and trails only Mike Bossy (0.78), Mario Lemieux (0.73), Wayne Gretzky (0.66), Cam Neely (0.65) and Brett Hull (0.64).
A 3-1 Lead Slips Away Again
Norris opened the scoring for Buffalo at 8:21 of the first period. Montreal answered on the power play after Hutson drew a slashing minor on Noah Ostlund, and Bolduc tipped in a goal at 11:45 with assists to Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky. It was the 97th game-tying goal Suzuki has factored in, which moved him past Steve Shutt for 11th in Canadiens history. Guy Lafleur leads that list with 179. Caufield gave the Canadiens the lead at 14:01, set up by Slafkovsky and Carrier.
Alexandre Texier made it 3-1 at 7:39 of the second period, with help from Kaiden Guhle and Carrier. Texier took an interference minor five seconds after he scored, which was not the plan, but the penalty was not what cut the lead. Jack Quinn scored short-handed at 9:52 while Montreal had the man advantage, just 2:13 after Texier’s goal, and Tage Thompson tied the game at 10:12 of the third period. It was the 218th goal of Thompson’s career with Buffalo, which moved him past Jason Pominville into 10th in franchise history, and his 45th game-tying goal, matching Alexander Mogilny and Danny Gare for seventh in Sabres history.
That is two straight games against the Sabres in which the Canadiens held a two-goal lead and had to settle it in extra time. The first one went to a shootout, as we covered in Canadiens Survive Sabres’ Comeback, and it raised the same question we asked in Maturity or Consistency?. Saturday gave a better answer on the scoreboard, but not yet on how they protect a lead.
The Top Line Steps Up
When the game was there to be won, the first line did the work. Slafkovsky, Suzuki and Caufield combined for five points, finished a plus-4 together and put eight shots on goal. They also added four hits and three blocked shots, so the line contributed without the puck too. Caufield scored twice, Slafkovsky had two assists and Suzuki had one.
That kind of night matters more with the lead slipping, and St-Louis did not dodge it. “Is it frustrating? I don’t know. But we need to be better. We are playing good games, but we make small mental mistakes that hurt us. When you lead by two, it should be over,” he said.
Penalties and Special Teams
Montreal took four minors (Texier, Hutson, Oliver Kapanen and Slafkovsky) and Buffalo took five (Ostlund twice, Dennis Gilbert, Zach Benson and Mattias Samuelsson). The Canadiens scored once on six power-play shots, while the Sabres did not score on their three. The biggest kill came late. Slafkovsky was called for tripping with 2:17 left in regulation, and Montreal held Buffalo off the board to force overtime. “The penalty kill stood up late in the game, and it was huge for giving us a chance to win,” Caufield said. After the penalty trouble that Martin St-Louis talked about earlier this week, that stand mattered.
Fowler Gets the Win
Jacob Fowler made 23 saves on 26 shots (.885) and is now 3-1-0 this season. Luukkonen stopped 30 of 34 for Buffalo (.882). The Canadiens outshot the Sabres 34-26 overall, and even strength was close, with each team scoring twice at 5-on-5 and Montreal holding a 22-21 edge in shots. Montreal also won 36 of 57 faceoffs, or 63 percent.
Debuts and Heavy Minutes
Kapanen and David Reinbacher both played their first games of the season, as we expected in the lineup preview. Kapanen played 11:40 with three shots on goal, and Reinbacher played 9:09. Carrier had two assists from the back end, while Hutson logged 26:38 and Guhle 23:21 with an assist.
What Comes Next
The Canadiens are 4-3-1 with nine points. They return to the Bell Centre on Tuesday, October 20 to host the San Jose Sharks at 7:00 PM ET, then play in Chicago on Friday, October 23. We will have the lineup and injury report ahead of the game.
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