Cole Caufield continued his Saturday night heroics with a two-goal performance, including the game-winner, in a 4-3 overtime victory for the Canadiens (4-3-1) over the Buffalo Sabres at the Bell Centre.

It’s the fourth game of eight this season where the Habs have gone beyond regulation. They have a 3-1 record in those games.

How Montreal won:

Caufield’s Saturday exploits continue. According to SNStats, since 2024-25, the sniper has 38 goals — five of them game-winners — and 59 points in 50 Saturday games.

Kaiden Guhle and Alexandre Carrier have found chemistry as a defensive pairing. They combined for three points, a plus-3 rating and both played more than 22 minutes.

The penalty kill was a perfect 4-for-4, including a game-saving stand with 2:17 to go in regulation when Juraj Slafkovsky was sent to the box for tripping.

The other goals from the Habs came from Les Trois Boys: Zachary Bolduc on the power play and Texier with his first of the campaign.

Jacob Fowler stopped 23 of 26 shots for his third win of the season.

But first, let’s watch Caufield ending the game on a breakaway after Buffalo’s scoring chance whipped around the glass at the other end.

David Reinbacher played his first game of the season. He was minus-1 in 9:09 of ice-time. His one mistake allowed Josh Norris to get behind him for the game’s opening goal.

The Canadiens came back with two in the first. After a slow start on the power play, the Habs now have goals with the man-advantage in three consecutive games. Bolduc tipped the Nick Suzuki shot to tie the game.

Slafkovsky got his second helper of the night beating out Olen Zellweger to the puck behind Buffalo’s net and setting up Caufield for the sharp angle goal on Luukkonen.

Habs turned it around after the Norris goal. In the second period, right off the draw, Texier went to the net to bat home the rebound from Guhle’s point shot.

But the Sabres stormed back. Just over two minutes later, the Sabres responded shorthanded. Zach Benson’s start-stop in the corner caught Noah Dobson off guard, and he found Jack Quinn driving the net.

Later in the second, Benson caught Caufield with an elbow. It was, otherwise, not a particularly rough game.

Just past the midway point of the third period, the Sabres drew even. Tage Thompson was left open back door and Josh Doan hit him with a perfect pass for an easy tap-in.

With the overtime winner, Caufield now has 11 goals in his last 10 games against the Sabres. His linemate Nick Suzuki is equally as potent against the division rival: he has 10-game point streak against them. Combined with Slafkovsky’s two dimes, the first line had a dominant night.

Here’s Caufield’s top shelf winner from a different angle.

Mike Matheson has been out three games with a lower-body injury, but should he be eligible to return soon, head coach Martin St. Louis may want to consider keeping the Guhle-Carrier pairing intact.

It was also another stellar night for the Bolduc-Phillip Danault-Texier line, as you can see by the Game Score Impact Card. Oliver Kapanen also made his season debut after going down in camp with a lower-body injury. He got his feet wet with three shots in 11:40.

David Reinbacher will look to use this opportunity to solidify a lineup spot. If not, as Sportsnet found out, the former first-rounder has a fallback plan according to his out-of-date LinkedIn profile. Does he follow Geoff Molson, at least?

Next opponent: A possible preview of the 2030 Stanley Cup Finals? The San Jose Sharks (4-3-1) and Canadiens have both amassed an enviable array of talent. Both are still looking to make the jump to perennial Cup contender. They’ll meet at the Bell Centre on Tuesday.

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