Cole Caufield’s 40th goal of the season, scored with just 22 seconds remaining in overtime, secured a 3-2 victory for the Montreal Canadiens against the Boston Bruins at Bell Centre on Tuesday.
Caufield tapped in a pass from Nick Suzuki at the right post, marking Montreal’s first 40-goal scorer since Vincent Damphousse in 1993-94.
Caufield Reaches Milestone
Caufield acknowledged the significance of reaching 40 goals. “Yeah, you guys talk about it a lot,” Caufield said. “Obviously it’s pretty special, but it says a whole lot about where the team is headed and it’s the right direction. A lot of work goes into that, a lot of great teammates and coaches, so it’s obviously a team sport and that doesn’t happen without the guys in the room. I’m just lucky enough to be a part of this group.”
Suzuki also scored and had an assist. Jakub Dobes made 26 saves for Montreal. Lane Hutson had two assists.
“It’s what (Caufield) does,” Suzuki said. “Forty is just a start for him, probably, and he’s an elite goal-scorer in this League and to see him having this much success is a lot of fun for us.”
Zacha’s Two Goals Not Enough for Bruins
Pavel Zacha scored twice for Boston, giving him seven goals in seven games. Jeremy Swayman made 28 saves for Boston, who gave up two one-goal leads after losing 4-3 in overtime at the New Jersey Devils on Monday.
“We have an extremely competitive group and it showed tonight,” Swayman said. “We needed that point, and taking the positives and moving forward, and I think there was a lot tonight.”
Zacha opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 2:22 of the first period, backhanding a loose puck over Dobes’ left pad after Mike Matheson cut off David Pastrnak’s pass attempt to Elias Lindholm.
“I think we stepped in the game really good,” Zacha said. “We were ready for the game. Having the point is good for us, but I think even the third period we had a good game. It’s just a shame we couldn’t win it in overtime. But I think overall we had a good team effort. ‘Sway’ was unbelievable, so we just have to learn from the mistakes and keep it moving.”
How the Goals Were Scored
Suzuki tied the game 1-1 at 10:31, deking with his back to Swayman before lifting a backhand over the goalie’s right pad. Juraj Slafkovsky found him open in front.
Zacha scored his second of the game at 5:41 of the second period, putting the Bruins ahead 2-1. He redirected Viktor Arvidsson’s pass inside the right post.
“As soon as (Arvidsson) got it we kind of locked eyes and I saw he saw me going back post,” Zacha said. “He did a perfect shot-pass there for me. I could just tilt the stick. It was a great pl
The Bruins will look to bounce back after giving up two one-goal leads in the loss.