Cole Caufield scored 30 seconds into overtime, and the Canadiens beat the Utah Mammoth 5-4 at the Bell Centre on Thursday night after trailing 2-0 before the 10-minute mark. Two days after blowing a 4-0 lead against Winnipeg, Montreal (10-3-3, 23 points) answered with a comeback of its own. Nick Suzuki returned from a six-game absence with a goal and two assists. Utah (10-6-1) got a hat trick from Logan Cooley and three power-play goals, but the Canadiens outshot the Mammoth 35-20 and never stopped pushing.
A Bad Start, Again
The first ten minutes looked like a continuation of Tuesday. Cooley scored at 1:42 on a backhand after Adam Engström failed to close the gap and let him walk by one-on-one. Then Josh Anderson took a tripping penalty at 9:04, and Cooley scored again on the power play at 9:24 with a snap shot. Down 2-0 at home with the building still nervous, the Canadiens had to settle things down quickly.
They did. Suzuki snapped a shot past Sebastian Cossa at 15:25 on a pass from Juraj Slafkovský, and Arber Xhekaj tied the game at 17:10 with a slap shot, his first goal of the season, set up by Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook. Four seconds later on the game clock, Xhekaj dropped the gloves with Liam O’Brien. It was 2-2 after one period, and the building had its energy back.
Penalties Give Utah the Lead
The Canadiens took 7 minor penalties and a fighting major in this game, and that is what kept Utah in it. Montreal killed Texier’s holding penalty at the end of the first period, then took two more in the second: Chris Kreider for tripping at 7:21 and Kaiden Guhle for putting the puck over the glass at 9:14. That one is the most avoidable penalty in hockey, because nobody forced it. Cooley scored on that power play at 11:05 to complete his hat trick and put Utah up 3-2.
It was the fifth hat trick of Cooley’s career, in his 228th NHL game and his second in seven days. He finished with three goals and an assist. Utah ended the night 3-for-5 on the power play, and three of the four goals against Jakub Dobeš came with the man advantage. This is not a goalie problem, it is a discipline problem.
Dach and Engström Bring It Back
The third period started with a Montreal power play after Mikhail Sergachev was penalized for delay of game at the end of the second. Suzuki sent the puck to the slot, and Dach pushed the loose puck into the net at 1:09 for his first goal of the season, in his 14th game. Utah answered at 7:14 after Slafkovský was called for high-sticking. With Guhle’s stick broken during the penalty kill, Cooley found Nick Schmaltz in the slot for a 4-3 lead.
The Canadiens kept coming. Cossa stopped Caufield and Zachary Bolduc on a power play at 13:48 after a penalty to O’Brien, but it was five-on-five where they tied it. At 14:54, Engström faked, then fired a snap shot into the top of the net for his first NHL goal in his 25th career game, with assists from Jake Evans and Noah Dobson. It was 4-4, and the defenseman who gave up the first goal of the night had just made up for it.
Caufield Ends It in Overtime
Overtime did not last long. Utah won the opening faceoff, but 30 seconds in, Caufield snapped a shot past Cossa for his 11th goal of the season. Lane Hutson and Suzuki got the assists. Caufield led all skaters with 6 shots on goal, and Hutson played 27:00 with two assists. Suzuki, named first star, had 20:04 of ice time and now has 15 points in 10 games, with at least a point in 8 of them.
The goal was also a piece of history. It was Caufield’s 15th career overtime goal and his 11th at home, which ties him for fifth most in NHL history. Only Alex Ovechkin (14), Leon Draisaitl (13), Patrik Elias (12) and Sidney Crosby (12) have more. In just 384 games, Caufield is also the fastest player in league history to reach 15 career overtime goals, ahead of Connor McDavid, who needed 559 games.
Slafkovský did not score for a seventh straight game, but he had 4 shots, an assist, hit a post, and was stopped by Cossa on a power play. When a player is creating that many chances, the goals usually come.
The Numbers
| Canadiens | Mammoth | |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | 5 | 4 |
| Shots on goal | 35 | 20 |
| 5-on-5 shots on goal | 23 | 13 |
| Power play | 1 for 4 | 3 for 5 |
| Penalty minutes | 19 | 17 |
| Hits | 17 | 30 |
| Faceoff wins | 57.1% | 42.9% |
| Giveaways | 19 | 11 |
| Takeaways | 1 | 4 |
| Blocked shots | 14 | 15 |
Expected goals show the game in two parts. Over the full game, the Canadiens had the edge, 4.04 to 3.51. At five-on-five, Utah had the better chances, 2.33 to 1.63, even though Montreal outshot the Mammoth 23-13 at even strength. Outside five-on-five, Montreal’s chances were worth 2.41 expected goals to Utah’s 1.18. The Habs had more shots at even strength, but Utah got the better looks.
The game score model did not agree with the first star. Kirby Dach graded out best on the Canadiens at 3.15, well ahead of Lane Hutson (1.45) and Nick Suzuki (1.27), because he scored a power-play goal and set up another in only 11:28 of ice time. Caufield had the highest individual expected goals on the team, 0.97 on six shots, and scored once. Slafkovský created 0.55 expected goals on four shots without scoring. At the bottom, Alexandre Texier (-0.70), Chris Kreider (-0.51) and Dobeš (-0.50) graded lowest.
Official NHL game data, regular season, Thursday, November 5.
| Goalie | Saves / Shots | Save % |
|---|---|---|
| Jakub Dobeš (MTL) | 16 / 20 | .800 |
| Sebastian Cossa (UTA) | 30 / 35 | .857 |
Dobeš’s save percentage looks worse than his night was. Utah’s chances were worth 3.64 expected goals against him, and he allowed 4, so he finished at -0.4 goals saved above expected. He gave up about what the chances deserved, and three of those four goals came on the power play.
| Canadiens Player | G | A | PTS | SOG | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Suzuki | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 20:04 |
| Kirby Dach | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 11:28 |
| Lane Hutson | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 27:00 |
| Noah Dobson | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 20:35 |
| Cole Caufield | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 18:25 |
| Arber Xhekaj | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 9:53 |
| Adam Engström | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 10:48 |
| Juraj Slafkovský | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 19:41 |
| Jake Evans | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 19:47 |
| Alex Newhook | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12:14 |
Three stars of the game: Nick Suzuki was the first star with a goal and two assists. Caufield was second with the overtime winner, and Cooley was third with his hat trick and an assist, four points in the loss. The Canadiens had to come back three times to tie this game, at 2-2, 3-3 and 4-4, before Caufield finished it in overtime.
Coach’s Take
Nick Suzuki carried the first line. He scored, set up two more goals and finished plus-2, and over his last two games he has two goals, three assists and a plus-5. When your top center plays with that much detail and confidence, your team has a chance every night, and that is what kept this game alive when it was slipping away.
The penalty kill had a bad night, giving up three goals on five chances. I will give Utah credit here. The Mammoth came in with the best road power play in the league, clicking at 43.2 percent (16 for 37), and they have the skill to make you pay for every mistake. But a hot power play is only part of the story.
Montreal should be better than this, and that brings me to my final point: discipline. Seven minor penalties and a fighting major is too many against any team, and far too many against a power play like Utah’s. This is not new. The Canadiens have been shorthanded 65 times in 16 games, 4.06 per game, tied with Florida for the most in the NHL. You cannot keep asking your goalie and your penalty kill to bail you out. I do not know if this group is going to learn, but until the penalties come down, every game will be harder than it needs to be.
What to Take From It
The good news is the response. The Canadiens trailed twice by a goal in the third period, never panicked, and found a way to win in overtime. Utah had been 7-0-0 this season when it scored first, and Montreal became the first team to beat the Mammoth after giving up the opening goal. The top line looked right again with Suzuki back between Slafkovský and Caufield, and Dach and Engström got goals they needed.
The concern is still the start and the penalties. Two goals against in the first ten minutes, 7 minor penalties and three power-play goals against is a recipe that will not work every night against a team like Utah. A better night from the penalty kill, and a few less avoidable penalties like the puck over the glass, and this is a regulation win. For the coach’s view before the game, read our Habs-Mammoth preview.
Next up, the Canadiens visit Toronto on Saturday, November 7 at 7:00 PM ET, host Minnesota on Tuesday, November 10, and visit Boston on Thursday, November 12. See the full standings and tonight’s lineup page before each game.
Sources: official NHL statistics and game data, NHL.com, RDS and MoneyPuck.
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