Canadiens beat Mammoth 5-4 in overtime on Thursday night at Bell Centre in Montreal, as Cole Caufield scored 30 seconds into the extra period to finish a comeback night for Montreal. Captain Nick Suzuki had a goal and two assists in his return from a six-game absence, and rookie Adam Engstrom scored his first career NHL goal to tie the game late in the third period.
The win stretched Montreal’s point streak to nine games and lifted the Canadiens to 10-3-3. Utah, which got a hat trick from Logan Cooley, fell to 10-6-1 after leading three separate times and never holding on.
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How Canadiens beat Mammoth 5-4 unfolded
Utah struck first, and it struck fast. Cooley opened the scoring on a breakaway on the game’s first shot, less than two minutes in, and then doubled the lead on another breakaway, finishing a pass from Nick Schmaltz. Montreal was down 2-0 before it had settled into the game, two nights after blowing a 4-0 lead to Winnipeg in the final 2:39 of regulation.
Suzuki started the response. He scored at 15:25 of the first period off passes from Juraj Slafkovsky and Noah Dobson, and Arber Xhekaj tied it 2-2 at 17:10 with a shot goaltender Sebastian Cossa had no chance on. Xhekaj had also fought Utah’s Liam O’Brien earlier in the period.
Cooley completed his hat trick on the power play in the second period to put Utah ahead 3-2, his second hat trick in four games. Montreal answered 1:09 into the third, when Kirby Dach scored his first goal of the season on the power play from Suzuki and Lane Hutson. Schmaltz restored Utah’s lead at 7:14 of the third with a power-play goal of his own, assisted by Cooley and Dylan Guenther.
The tying goal belonged to a first-timer. Engstrom, walking into the slot, took a pass from Jake Evans and beat Cossa with a wrist shot at 14:54 of the third to make it 4-4. In overtime, Caufield needed only 30 seconds: he came down the wing, faked a slap shot to get Cossa down, and shot top corner for the winner, assisted by Hutson and Suzuki.
Jakub Dobes made 16 saves on 20 shots for the win. Cossa stopped 30 of 34 for Utah. Montreal outshot the Mammoth 35-20.
Suzuki’s return, and two firsts for Montreal
Suzuki’s return was the night’s central thread. The captain missed six games, and he did not ease back in: a goal, two assists and 20:04 of ice time, with a hand in the opening goal and the overtime winner. His line with Caufield and Slafkovsky drove the comeback.
Dach’s goal mattered for a different reason. He had only recently returned after a virus, was not originally slated for the power play, and was promoted only after a penalty to Caufield. He was in the right place at the right time for his first goal of the season, and he added an assist on Xhekaj’s goal.
Engstrom’s first NHL goal was the loudest moment before overtime. A young defenseman tying a game with just over five minutes left, in his own building, is the kind of goal that sticks in a season. His celebration told the story before the puck had even settled.
Cooley’s hat trick was not enough
For Utah, the story is the opposite one: a 22-year-old center scored three goals and added an assist, and his team still lost. Cooley scored in every way a game asks for — a breakaway, a finish off a setup pass, and a power-play goal — and Schmaltz added a goal and two assists beside him.
The problem was the lead. Utah led 2-0, 3-2 and 4-3, and each time Montreal answered. A team that scores four goals on the road should win most nights. The Mammoth head to Ottawa on Saturday with the same question they left Montreal with: how to protect a lead when the other team keeps coming.
Analysis: what this win changes, and what it does not
For Montreal, this is a response, not just a win. Tuesday’s collapse against Winnipeg — four goals conceded in the final 2:39, then an overtime loss — was the latest four-goal comeback in NHL history, and it could have lingered. Instead the Canadiens fell behind 2-0 early on Thursday, trailed three times, and won anyway. That is the useful part of the night: the point streak is now nine games, and the record is 10-3-3, a 121-point pace.
What it does not change is the defensive picture. Montreal gave up four goals on 20 shots, Dobes stopped only 16, and Utah’s power play scored twice. The Canadiens won this game with their stars and their depth scoring, not with structure. Against Toronto on Saturday, that margin will be thinner.
For Utah, the loss does not undo a strong start — 10-6-1 is still second in the Central Division — but it exposes the same flaw. The Mammoth have the scoring to lead games. Closing them out is the next step.
What to watch next
Montreal visits the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night at 7 p.m. ET, another team that lives on its power play. Watch whether Suzuki’s line keeps producing, whether Dobes gets the start again after a shaky night, and whether the Canadiens can hold a lead this time. Utah visits the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, looking to prove it can win a game it leads.
Elsewhere on Thursday night, Week 9 of the NFL season opened with the Jaguars visiting the Ravens on Thursday Night Football. For more on how Montreal got here, see our report on the Jets’ 5-4 overtime win over the Canadiens on Tuesday, and our other recent NHL recap, the Golden Knights’ 3-2 win over the Penguins.
Sources: Associated Press; Habs Eyes on the Prize; Utah Hockey Insider; ESPN box score.
