Caufield lifts Canadiens past Bruins in OT

MONTREAL -- Cole Caufield scored his 40th goal of the season with 22 seconds remaining in overtime, and the Montreal Canadiens came back for a 3-2 win against the Boston Bruins at Bell Centre on Tuesday.

Caufield tapped in a backdoor pass from Nick Suzuki at the right post to become Montreal’s first 40-goal scorer since Vincent Damphousse in 1993-94. 

The milestone did not creep up on the 25-year-old forward.

“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 scored for a third straight game and had an assist, Caufield had a goal and an assist, and Jakub Dobes made 26 saves for Montreal (37-20-10), which had lost consecutive games, both at home. 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.”

Pavel Zacha scored twice to give him seven goals in seven games, and Jeremy Swayman made 28 saves for Boston (37-23-8), which 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 put the Bruins up 1-0 with a power-play goal at 2:22 of the first period. He backhanded a loose puck over Dobes’ left pad after Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson cut off David Pastrnak’s attempt to hit Elias Lindholm with a backdoor pass.

“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.”

Suzuki tied it 1-1 at 10:31 when he deked with his back to Swayman before lifting a backhand over the goalie’s right pad after Juraj Slafkovsky found him open in front.

Zacha scored his second of the game at 5:41 of the second period to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead. He drove to the right side of the net and 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 play and my teammates make me a better player.”

Josh Anderson tied it 2-2 at 13:15. He battled Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov in front of the net before tipping Hutson’s wrist shot from the point past Swayman stick side.

“We did a good job of forechecking really hard,” Matheson said. “We knew they played last night, and that’s not an easy task to play a team that’s rested when you’re coming off a back-to-back. So I thought we took advantage of that.”

NOTES: Pastrnak had an assist to extend his point streak against the Canadiens to 14 games, tying Bobby Orr (from 1969-70 to 1971-72) for the longest streak by a Boston player against Montreal. Pastrnak has 24 points (six goals, 18 assists) during the streak, which dates to Jan. 24, 2023. … Caufield (66 games) became the fastest Canadiens player to 40 goals in a season since Stephane Richer (63 games in 1989-90). … With 80 points (24 goals, 56 assists), Suzuki is the first Montreal player to reach the mark in consecutive seasons since Damphousse (1995-96 and 1996-97). Suzuki had 89 points (30 goals, 59 assists) in 82 games last season.