Canadiens edge Mammoth 5-4 in overtime as Caufield scores in 30 seconds, fastest ever to 15 OT goals

The Montreal Canadiens beat the Utah Mammoth 5-4 in overtime on Thursday night at Bell Centre, shaking off the collapse of two nights earlier. Cole Caufield scored just 30 seconds into overtime for his 15th career regular-season overtime goal, reaching the mark in only 384 games — the fastest in NHL history, ahead of Connor McDavid, who needed 559 games.

The winner and how the game unfolded

On a 2-on-1 in overtime, Caufield faked a slap shot before ripping a wrist shot over the right shoulder of Utah goaltender Sebastian Cossa. The teams traded the lead three times in regulation: Utah centre Logan Cooley recorded a hat trick and an assist for a four-point night, his second hat trick in four games, while Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki returned after missing six games with an upper-body injury, scoring a goal and adding two assists. Adam Engstrom tied the game with 5:06 left in regulation to force overtime. Utah went 3-for-5 on the power play.

A timely response

The win mattered for Montreal: just two nights earlier, the Canadiens blew a 4-0 lead in the final 2:39 of regulation and lost 5-4 in overtime to the Winnipeg Jets, the latest four-goal comeback in NHL history. With the win over Utah, Montreal improved to 10-3-3 and has now won six of its last seven games; Utah fell to 10-6-1. The Canadiens next visit the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.

(Photo is a file image: Caufield in an earlier game.)