Cole Caufield scored twice, including the overtime winner 54 seconds into the extra period, as the Montreal Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 at Bell Centre on Saturday.
Caufield’s second goal, an unassisted snap shot 54 seconds into overtime, settled a game Montreal led before Buffalo tied it 3-3 in the third. Tage Thompson scored the equalizer at 10:12 of the third to force extra time.
Key Moments: How Montreal Won It
Montreal controlled the opening period, scoring twice to answer an early Buffalo goal. Josh Norris put the Sabres ahead 1-0 at 8:21 on a snap shot assisted by Konsta Helenius. Montreal answered quickly, with Zachary Bolduc tipping in a shot from Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovský at 11:45 to tie it, then Caufield gave the Canadiens their first lead at 14:01 with a snap shot assisted by Slafkovský and Alexandre Carrier.
Alexandre Texier extended the lead to 3-1 early in the second period, scoring at 7:39 off assists from Kaiden Guhle and Carrier. Buffalo cut the gap before the period ended when Jack Quinn scored at 9:52, assisted by Zach Benson and Mattias Samuelsson, making it 3-2 heading into the third.
Thompson’s third-period goal tied the game at 3-3 and forced overtime, setting up Caufield’s winner less than a minute into the extra period in the Canadiens’ Atlantic Division matchup against the Sabres.
Top Performers
Caufield finished with two goals on five shots and led all skaters in scoring. Carrier recorded two assists on the Montreal blue line, and Slafkovský had two assists. Montreal out-shot Buffalo 34-26 and won 63.2% of its faceoffs, with Jake Evans going 8-for-11 at the dot.
Montreal’s power play converted once in five chances, while Buffalo’s power play went 0-for-4. Jacob Fowler stopped 23 of 26 shots for Montreal, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 30 saves on 34 shots for Buffalo, including five on the penalty kill.
For Buffalo, Thompson, Quinn, Samuelsson and Norris each factored into a goal. Samuelsson logged nearly 27 minutes of ice time and picked up an assist on Quinn’s goal.
What It Means
The result pushed Montreal to 9 points and Buffalo to 10 points in the Atlantic Division standings, with both teams sitting below the division’s top four clubs. Montreal leads the season series 2-0.
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