St. Louis gets first win, Canadiens edge Blues in OT ending 10-game skid

MONTREAL --Martin St. Louis got his first win as an NHL coach, and the Montreal Canadiens ended a 10-game skid with a 3-2 overtime win against the St. Louis Blues at Bell Centre on Thursday.

Cole Caufield scored his second straight goal at 2:22 of overtime after tying it 2-2 with 10 seconds remaining in the third period.
"This win feels better than ever," Caufield said.
The forward has scored four goals in four games under St. Louis. He scored one in his first 30 games of the season.
"I think these past couple of games we've been playing well, down to the wire, things like that," Caufield said. For sure it feels good to be on the other side of things. I think we can build off these past couple of games. And to get a win for Marty and the guys, I think it will go a long way for the future."

Paul Byron scored in his 500th NHL game, and Sam Montembeault made 25 saves for Montreal (9-33-7).
"I'm really happy for the guys, they deserved to win," St. Louis said. "Losses are heavy. And it's not just the win, it's the way we did it because we played a really good game, and we got scored on with [1:19] left (in the third period) and our backs were to the wall."
The Canadiens won for the first time since Jan. 18, a 5-3 victory against the Dallas Stars.
"It felt good coming into the locker room and hearing music," Montreal forward Josh Anderson said.
Robert Thomas scored, Pavel Buchnevich had a goal and an assist, and Ville Husso made 27 saves for St. Louis (28-14-6), which has split four games since the All-Star break.
"They didn't give us much time and space out there," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "But in saying that, we have to [be] better. We have to have better execution, and we've got to find a way."

Byron made it 1-0 at 7:13 of the first period. He got behind Blues defenseman Robert Bortuzzo and redirected Artturi Lehkonen's pass for his first goal in six games since returning from offseason hip surgery.
Thomas tied it at 1-1 at 18:26 on a 2-on-1 with Buchnevich while shorthanded.
Each team had opportunities in the third period. Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry's wrist shot from the point hit the right post at 7:36; Thomas hit the right post at 12:45 during St. Louis' second power play of the game; Montreal forward Laurent Dauphin was stopped on a shorthanded breakaway at 15:34.
Buchnevich gave St. Louis a 2-1 lead at 18:41 when he scored on a one-timer from the right circle.
"That's a frustrating one because we need every point we can get right now," Blues forward Ryan O'Reilly said.
NOTES:Caufield's first goal was Montreal's latest game-tying goal since March 15, 2014, when David Desharnais scored at 19:59 of the third period. Desharnais assisted on the winning goal by Francis Bouillon in overtime, a 5-4 win against the Ottawa Senators. … Caufield is the fifth NHL player to score in overtime after scoring a game-tying goal in the final 10 seconds, joining Mikael Granlund (Nashville Predators, Feb. 27, 2020), Marian Gaborik (Los Angeles Kings, May 3, 2014), Marco Sturm (San Jose Sharks, Nov. 8, 2000) and Neal Broten (Minnesota North Stars, Nov. 26, 1983). … Canadiens forward Joel Armia left the game at 6:26 of the third period after he was struck and cut by Thomas' skate. St. Louis said he seemed fine but would be reevaluated Friday. … Blues defenseman Justin Faulk extended his point streak to five games (one goal, four assists). … Buchnevich has one goal and six assists during a four-game point streak.