MONTREAL (AP) — Cole Caufield forced overtime with 8.7 seconds left in regulation and then scored the winner in overtime to help the Montreal Canadiens snap a 10-game skid with a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night.
Paul Byron also scored and Samuel Montembeault stopped 26 shots for the Canadiens, whose last win came on Jan. 18 at Dallas. The victory was the first for interim coach Martin St. Louis, who was 0-3-0 since taking over for the fired Dominique Ducharme.
Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich scored for the Blues, and Ville Husso made 27 saves.
With 1:19 to go and the game tied at 1, Buchnevich powered his way to what looked to be the winning goal with a slap shot from the right faceoff circle.
But Caufield forced overtime on a one-timer with less than nine seconds remaining. The rookie wasn’t done there, giving Montreal the win off another one-timer.
Playing in his 500th NHL game, Byron got his first goal of the season and gave Montreal a rare opening marker this season by scoring at the 7:13 mark of the first period.
The Blues tied it on a short-handed effort with 1:34 to go in the first when Thomas and Buchnevich exchanged passes on the rush and Thomas beat Montembeault with his seventh goal of the season.
UP NEXT
St. Louis: At Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
Montreal: At New York Islanders on Sunday.
___
More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
