Game 755
Canadiens 3, Maple Leafs 2 (OT)
Monday, May 3, 2021
Centre Bell, Montréal, Québec

Cole Caufield scored his second straight overtime goal, and the Montréal Canadiens gained ground in the Scotia North Division race with a 3-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Bell Centre on Monday.

Jeff Petry got his third assist when he set up Caufield, who scored on a wrist shot with 17 seconds left. Petry also assisted on Caufield’s first NHL goal, which gave Montréal a 3-2 win against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

“The feeling doesn’t get old, and it never will,” Caufield said. “But he did it again, found me in a great spot, drew two guys to him…and created it all by himself.”

Caufield is the third player to score his first two NHL goals in overtime; Albert Hughes of the New York Americans (1930-31) and Brent Seabrook of the Chicago Blackhawks (2005-06) are the others.

“Cole may be small, but he likes the big moments,” Canadiens forward Phillip Danault said of the 5-foot-7 forward, who played his fifth NHL game.

Tyler Toffoli and Danault scored, and Jake Allen made 27 saves for Montréal (24-18-9), which came from behind to win for a third straight game. The Canadiens are tied with the Winnipeg Jets for third in the seven-team division, 10 points ahead of the fifth-place Calgary Flames. The top four teams qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 39th goal, and Jack Campbell made 20 saves for Toronto (33-13-6), which had a five-game winning streak end. The Maple Leafs lead the North by eight points over the second-place Edmonton Oilers and have clinched a playoff berth.

“I thought the guys played hard and we definitely could have won the game,” Campbell said. “We’re just going to bounce back and play really hard next game.”

Matthews and Mitchell Marner had a 2-on-0 in overtime but could not connect, with Marner’s pass going past Matthews at the left side of the net at 2:50.

“I think we just overpassed it,” Matthews said. “I wasn’t really able to get my stick on it at the end. It’s late in the game, late in overtime, a little fatigue setting in, but obviously would have liked to have seen that one go in the net, especially on a 2-on-0.”

Danault tied it 2-2 with 52 seconds remaining in the third period and Allen pulled for an extra skater. He scored at the side of the net on a pass from Nick Suzuki, who had three assists and extended his point streak to six games (four goals, six assists).

The Canadiens trailed by two in the third period Saturday after scoring four straight goals for a 5-3 win against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday.

“I think we’ve been really resilient,” Suzuki said. “Obviously we’ve been down in all the games, it’s not something we’re looking for, but it just shows a lot of character in the group that we have on the ice. And we’re doing a great job of coming back and putting pressure on them (the Jets). I heard we’re tied now with them, so it’s going to be fun down the stretch.”

Matthews put the Maple Leafs up 2-1 at 17:21 of the second period. Covered by Joel Edmundson in front of the net, he stuck out his stick to deflect Jake Muzzin’s point shot downward for his fifth goal during a four-game goal streak.

Morgan Rielly gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead at 4:07 of the first period with a wrist shot that went in off Montréal defenceman Ben Chiarot’s leg while he battled Toronto forward Alex Galchenyuk in front of Allen.

NOTES: Maple Leafs forward Nick Foligno left the game with an upper-body injury with 2:58 remaining in the second. There was no update. “We have a day off tomorrow, so we’ll see how he settles down,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said…Canadiens goalie Carey Price is expected to skate Tuesday for the first time since sustaining a concussion April 19.

Story property of NHL.com, photo property of CBC

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BOXSCORE
1st Period
TOR GOAL – 04:07 – Rielly (Galchenyuk, Nylander)
TOR PEN – 09:27 – Galchenyuk, hooking
TOR PEN – 15:06 – Nylander, interference

2nd Period
TOR PEN – 00:44 – Foligno, tripping
MTL PP GOAL – 01:55 – Toffoli (Suzuki, Petry)
MTL PEN – 02:17 – Romanov, delay of game
MTL PEN – 04:35 – Toffoli, tripping
TOR GOAL – 17:21 – Matthews (Muzzin, Thornton)

3rd Period
MTL PEN – 01:06 – Petry, holding
TOR PEN – 05:59 – Nylander, tripping
MTL EA GOAL – 19:08 – Danault (Suzuki, Petry)

Overtime
MTL GOAL – 04:43 – Caufield (Petry, Suzuki)

GOALTENDERS
MTL – Allen (W, 27-29)
TOR – Campbell (OTL, 20-23)

SHOTS ON GOAL
MTL – 10+4+8+1 = 23
TOR – 11+10+6+2 = 29

ROSTERS
MTL – Goaltenders: Jake Allen, Cayden Primeau. Defence: Ben Chiarot, Joel Edmundson, Brett Kulak, Jon Merrill, Jeff Petry (A), Alexander Romanov. Forwards: Josh Anderson, Joel Armia, Cole Caufield, Phillip Danault (A), Jake Evans, Michael Frolik, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Artturi Lehkonen, Corey Perry (A), Eric Staal, Nick Suzuki, Tyler Toffoli.
TOR – Goaltenders: Jack Campbell, David Rittich. Defence: T.J. Brodie, Travis Dermott, Timothy Liljegren, Jake Muzzin, Morgan Rielly (A), Rasmus Sandin. Forwards: Adam Brooks, Nick Foligno, Alex Galchenyuk, Alexander Kerfoot, Mitchell Marner, Auston Matthews (A), Ilya Mikheyev, William Nylander, Wayne Simmonds, Jason Spezza, John Tavares (C), Joe Thornton.

TEAM RECORDS
MTL – 24-18-9 (.559)
TOR – 33-13-6 (.692)

ATTENDANCE
0

THREE STARS
⭐ Cole Caufield (MTL)
⭐⭐ Nick Suzuki (MTL)
⭐⭐⭐ Auston Matthews (TOR)