Caufield, Canadiens recover for OT victory against Capitals

MONTREAL -- Cole Caufield scored 47 seconds into overtime to give the Montreal Canadiens a 3-2 win against the Washington Capitals at Bell Centre on Saturday.

Caufield scored past Darcy Kuemper stick side from the left face-off circle on a pass from Nick Suzuki.

Sean Monahan and Caufield each had a goal and an assist, Suzuki had two assists and Jake Allen made 31 saves for Montreal (2-1-1) in his first start in 10 days.

“I thought everybody stepped up,” Monahan said. “Jakey played great for us, made big stops, and I thought everybody did a job. So, I mean Cole came down and ended it for us.”

Dylan Strome scored twice in the third period for the Capitals (1-3-0), tying the game after they trailed 2-0 in the second. Kuemper made 25 saves.

“I thought we did take some positive steps tonight from the big picture-wise, all three periods, I would say, especially the third period,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “We are really, really struggling to finish and score goals right now. So for us to sort of fight back and kill a ton of penalties, a lengthy 5-on-3, and then still with seven minutes or whatever it was left when we get back to 5-on-5 to push for that equalizer ... 

“As we continue to find our polish offensively and being able to finish opportunities, and finish plays for that matter, not just scoring chances, but finish plays, I like the character to battle back.”

Strome scored his first goal at 11:25 of the third on a pass from Alex Ovechkin to bring the Capitals within 2-1.

He scored his second straight goal with 2:01 left to tie it 2-2 on a pass through the crease by Evgeny Kuznetsov.

Ovechkin got his second assist in four games but failed to score, matching his longest goal drought to start a season (2012-13).

“I think their goalie played unbelievable tonight,” said Ovechkin, the Washington captain. “We had lots of chances but couldn’t put the puck in.”

Ovechkin has not scored in nine consecutive regular season games, dating to March 25.

“You know when he’s out there,” Caufield said. “I mean, heavy shot, and I thought we kept him quiet, but obviously he’s a threat every time he’s out there. I thought we did a good job at that. Obviously, they’re a good team. They know how to come back, but I loved how we stuck with it and Jake Allen was great tonight.”

Monahan gave Montreal a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 18:55 of the first period. He deflected Suzuki’s hard shot-pass along the ice past Kuemper stick side from the goalmouth.

Brendan Gallagher made it 2-0 at 9:50 of the second. He ended up in the net after putting away a rebound off Monahan’s backhander with all three Canadiens forwards driving the net.

“I was just trying to throw it there,” Monahan said. “I saw (Tanner Pearson) going to the net hard and usually good things happen when there’s a lot of bodies there. So Gally came in, that’s a huge goal to go up 2-0.”

NOTES: Ovechkin had three of his five shots of the game in the first period. He had no shots on goal in each of his past two games for the first time in his career. … Capitals defenseman Hardy Haman Aktell had one shot on goal and blocked two shots in 8:00 in his NHL debut. … Caufield extended his season-opening point streak to four games with an assist on Monahan’s goal. He has five points (three goals, two assists).