The Montreal Canadiens scored the winner early in overtime to complete a comeback and defeat the Utah Mammoth 5-4 on Thursday.
The Story
The Montreal Canadiens bounced back from an embarrassing 5-4 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets two days earlier, rallying to beat the Utah Mammoth 5-4 on Thursday night.
Cole Caufield scored 30 seconds into overtime to decide the game after Logan Cooley put Utah ahead with a pair of early goals and completed a hat trick.
Utah took a quick 2-0 lead, with Cooley scoring on the Mammoth’s first shot and adding his second nine minutes into the game. Montreal then trailed 3-2 after the second period before falling behind 4-3 in the third.
The Canadiens responded repeatedly. Nick Suzuki returned to the lineup after missing six games with a left-hand injury and helped trigger Montreal’s first goal at 15:25 of the first period, finishing a cross-ice feed from Juraj Slafkovsky.
Suzuki finished with two assists and a strong two-way shift, recording four shots and two hits while winning 55 per cent of his faceoffs in 20 minutes of ice time. Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis said Suzuki’s presence helped steady the group, noting that Suzuki “doesn’t just calm the group, [he] tries to take charge on the ice.”
Arber Xhekaj, Kirby Dach and Adam Engstrom each found the net as the comeback continued. Xhekaj tied the game at 17:10 of the first period, hammering a slap shot from the point past Utah goaltender Sebastian Cossa for his first goal of the season.
Dach, back after missing time with an illness, pulled Montreal level 3-3 with a power-play goal 69 seconds into the third period, and Engstrom evened the score at 4-4 with five minutes left in regulation for his first NHL goal.
Dobes made 16 saves for Montreal, which improved to a 10-3-3 record, as Utah’s league-best power play continued to generate offence during the comeback.
The game also included a milestone for Engstrom, who leapt into the glass in celebration after his wrist shot from the slot beat Cossa on the glove side. The 22-year-old Swede was playing his 25th career NHL game.
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