Caufield, Dach lift Canadiens past Avalanche in shootout

DENVER -- Cole Caufield scored to tie the game in the third period, and the Montreal Canadiens won 2-1 against the Colorado Avalanche in the shootout at Ball Arena on Saturday.

Caufield and Kirby Dach each scored in the shootout, and Nick Suzuki had an assist for the Canadiens (18-18-3), who have won seven of their past 10 games and were coming off a 4-2 loss at the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday.

“It was a shaky start for sure. A lot of guys sacrificing their bodies blocking shots,” Suzuki said. “I thought the guys stuck with it the whole time. We didn’t really try to change anything. We weren’t trying to cheat the game. We had to play well defensively against that team, especially when their big guys are on the ice. It’s just a mature effort from us, and [we] found a way to get it into overtime and went into the shootout.”

Jakub Dobes made 22 saves in his second NHL game and first shootout. He stopped Artturi Lehkonen on a breakaway as he came out of the penalty box at 4:10 of overtime.

“That's just a cherry on the top, but like taking a point from these guys, it's huge,” Dobes said of the breakaway. “Unbelievable. I mean, what a comeback from the guys. Team is playing well.”

Mikko Rantanen scored his 100th career power-play goal for the Avalanche (24-15-1), who had won six straight games. Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar each had an assist.

“I think it was pretty low-event for two teams that are sort of cooking offensively right now, but the goalies were good,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “We were good defensively, responsible, checked hard against a team that tops the league right now in creating offense. But we didn't do a good enough job creating offense ourselves. Pretty low-event hockey game from our standards on the offensive side of it.”

Mackenzie Blackwood made 22 saves, including on a Kaiden Guhle breakaway as he came out of the penalty box 23 seconds into overtime.

“Not much [goes through my mind]. Just stay square, try and watch the puck and react to it,” Blackwood said of the breakaway. “Overall, not a bad game. Just didn't get the bounce at the end there and score on our chances, and they scored them in the shootout.”

Rantanen extended his current point streak to 13 games when he scored at 9:01 of the first period while on the power play to give Colorado a 1-0 lead. MacKinnon’s pass toward the far post deflected off Rantanen's skate as he drove to the net.

“He's been phenomenal, like not just [on the] power play, but obviously that's a strength of his,” Bednar said. “He's one of those one-shot goal scorers. When you need a big goal -- we saw it the other night -- you need a big goal, you got a guy over there that can score from all kinds of areas on that side of the ice and on the power play. And when him and 'Mack' and Cale are all shooting from up there, it becomes a really difficult power play to kill against.”

Rantanen has eight goals and 14 assists during that stretch.

Caufield tied it 1-1 when he finished a 2-on-1 with Suzuki with a wrist shot past the glove of Blackwood at 13:25 of the third period. The goal extended Caufield’s current goal streak to three games (three goals).

“I think we just played the right way. We're playing such a mature game right now. Everyone's on the same page,” Guhle said. “So much fun to be a part of. Winning's never felt so good right now.”

NOTES: Bednar said goalie Scott Wedgewood, who left a 6-5 overtime win against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday with a lower-body injury, doesn’t have a high-ankle sprain but is still considered week to week and will be reevaluated Monday. … Rantanen became the fifth player in Avalanche/Nordiques history to score 100 power-play goals. He also became the third Finland-born player in NHL history to reach the milestone, along with Teemu Selanne (255) and Jari Kurri (155). … Hutson had an assist in his 39th game and became the eighth rookie defenseman in NHL history to record 25 assists in a season in fewer than 40 games (Larry Murphy (27 games in 1980-81), Brian Leetch (33 games in 1988-89), Chris Chelios (34 games in 1984-85), Stefan Persson (34 games in 1977-78), Nicklas Lidstrom (35 games in 1991-92), Phil Housley (37 games in 1982-83) and Quinn Hughes (39 games in 2019-20)). … Dobes became the fifth rookie goaltender to win each of his first two NHL starts with the Canadiens in the past 40 years (Charlie Lindgren (5 games from 2015-16–2017-18), Mike Condon (4 games in 2015-16), Jaroslav Halak (3 games in 2006-07) and Patrick Roy (2 games from 1984–85-1985-86)).