Caufield scores twice on power play, Canadiens defeat Predators

MONTREAL -- Cole Caufield scored two power-play goals for the Montreal Canadiens in a 4-3 win against the Nashville Predators at Bell Centre on Thursday.

Kirby Dach had a goal and an assist, Jonathan Drouin had three assists, and Sam Montembeault made 39 saves for the Canadiens (17-22-3), who won for the second time in three games after going 0-6-1 in the previous seven.
"Obviously, we don't want to have to have bounce-back games, but I loved our energy off the start," Caufield said. "We stuck with it through some penalties, and I think our special teams was the difference tonight."

Yaroslav Askarov
made 31 saves in his NHL debut for the Predators (19-16-6), who lost 2-1 at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday. The first-round pick (No. 11) in the 2020 NHL Draft was recalled from Milwaukee of the American Hockey League and started because backup Kevin Lankinen is ill.
"I thought we needed to play better in front of him, but a good first start for him," Nashville coach John Hynes said. "He made some big saves, was tested a lot, so I give him a lot of credit."

Caufield put Montreal up 3-2 at 10:03 of the second period on the power play, one-timing Nick Suzuki's cross-ice pass past Askarov's glove.
Caufield increased the lead to 4-2 at 6:15 of the third period with his second straight power-play goal for his team-leading 25th goal. It was his sixth two-goal game of the season.
Juuso Parssinen scored with 1:29 remaining for the 4-3 final, a shot from the point with Askarov pulled for an extra skater.

Nino Niederreiter gave Nashville a 1-0 lead at 10:35 of the first period before Jake Evans tied it 1-1 at 13:30 when he scored on the Canadiens' 15th shot.
Dach put Montreal ahead 2-1 at 15:08 when he steered Jesse Ylonen's pass into a wide-open net after Drouin cut off Askarov's clearing attempt along the left boards.
"This was a good stepping-stone for our group to kind of learn and play a hard 60-minute game like this against a team that's big and strong," Dach said.

Filip Forsberg scored 12 seconds into the second to tie it 2-2 on Matt Duchene's centering pass from behind the net.
The Canadiens
honored retired defenseman
P.K. Subban in a pregame ceremony. Subban won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman with Montreal in 2012-13.
"He's a legend here, and he's done a lot of great things in the community and for the team," Caufield said. "So, to have a guy like that come back and get a standing ovation like that, it's pretty special to be here and a cool moment for him."
Subban also played for the Predators from 2016-2019. Nashville defenseman Mattias Ekholm was Subban's teammate in the 2017 Stanley Cup Final, which the Predators lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games.
"I'm happy to see him get the recognition he deserves," Ekholm said. "So it was a really cool ceremony and it was really cool to be a part of it."
NOTES: Caufield is third in the NHL with six multigoal games; only Bo Horvat of the Vancouver Canucks (nine) and Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin (seven) have more. … Drouin had his fifth three-assist game in the NHL, his first in nearly two years to the day since he previously accomplished the feat Jan. 13, 2021 in a 5-4 loss at the Toronto Maple Leafs. … Askarov was 13-6-2 with two shutouts, a 2.66 goals-against-average, and a .905 save percentage in 22 games with Milwaukee. … Ylonen had one shot on goal in 8:21 of ice time in his season debut with Montreal after being recalled from Laval of the AHL on Wednesday.