Cole Caufield OT Breakaway Lifts Canadiens Past Sabres

Cole Caufield picked up a loose puck at the blue line, skated in alone and beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen over the blocker 54 seconds into overtime. That goal, his second of the night, gave the Montreal Canadiens a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres at Bell Centre on Saturday.

The chance came off a hard rebound from a Josh Norris shot that bounced off the boards. Caufield chased it down, and once he had a clear lane, the building knew how it was going to end.

"It's great. These fans are amazing," Caufield said in his on-ice interview, per NHL.com. "The building's electric and these moments never get old."

Mr. Saturday Night strikes again

The nickname is sticking for a reason. According to NHL.com, Caufield has scored 66 goals in the 106 regular-season games he has played on a Saturday. That is a ridiculous number, and Saturday added two more.

The overtime winner was the 14th of his career. That ties him with Kirill Kaprizov and Sebastian Aho for the most overtime goals in the NHL since Caufield debuted in 2020-21, and it ties Connor McDavid for the most in NHL history by a player 25 or younger.

Buffalo keeps bringing it out of him, too. Caufield had four points (three goals, one assist) in the two games against the Sabres this week, and the Canadiens' team site has him at 11 goals in his last 10 games against Buffalo. Fantasy managers rostering Caufield should circle the next Sabres date on the calendar.

How Montreal let a 3-1 lead slip

This did not need overtime. Zachary Bolduc tipped a Nick Suzuki shot in on the power play to tie it 1-1, Caufield snapped one past Luukkonen off a Juraj Slafkovsky feed from behind the net for a 2-1 lead, and Alexandre Texier put in his own rebound early in the second for 3-1. Texier's goal was his first of the season.

Then Buffalo pushed back. Jack Quinn scored short-handed to cut it to 3-2, and Tage Thompson finished a backdoor pass from Josh Doan at 10:12 of the third to tie it. That was Thompson's 218th goal as a Sabre, moving him past Jason Pominville for 10th in team history. Montreal had a chance to bury it with 45 seconds of a two-man advantage in the second and got just one shot on goal.

"It would have been nice to put the nail in the coffin there," coach Martin St. Louis said. "But Buffalo is not an easy team to play when you have a lead."

Jacob Fowler made 23 saves, and Slafkovsky and Alexandre Carrier each had two assists. Montreal is 4-3-1 and has won three of its past four. Buffalo is 4-3-2.

What's next for the Canadiens

The Canadiens host the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday at Bell Centre. It is not a Saturday, but nobody in Montreal is going to complain if Caufield keeps it rolling on a Tuesday.