Cole Caufield played the hero in overtime as the Montreal Canadiens beat the Washington Capitals after giving up a two goal third period lead.

GAME RECAP | Washington Capitals vs Montreal Canadiens

Canadiens Lineup

Forwards

22 Cole Caufield  14 Nick Suzuki  49 Rafael Harvey-Pinard
17  Josh Anderson  15 Alex Newhook  20 Juraj Slafkovsky
70 Tanner Pearson  91 Sean Monahan 11 Brendan Gallagher
55 Michael Pezzetta  71 Jake Evans  56 Jesse Ylonen

Defensemen
8 Mike Matheson 58 David Savard
54 Jordan Harris 26 Johnathan Kovacevic
72 Arber Xhekaj 52 Justin Barron

Goaltenders

Starter: 34 Jake Allen
Alternate: 35 Sam Montembeault

Out of the lineup

Scratches: Joel Armia, Cayden Primeau

Injuries: Christian Dvorak (lower body), Carey Price (lower body), Chris Wideman (upper body), Kirby Dach (lower body), Kaiden Guhle

Game Report

As Cole Caufield had completed his first shift in overtime, he waved on his replacement and headed towards the bench. But as Nick Suzuki received the puck at the Canadiens blueline, Caufield turned towards the Capitals zone. The 22-year-old received a pass in stride and fooled goaltender Darcy Kuemper with a short side wrist shot.

The Canadiens were able to salvage an overtime win after giving up a two-goal lead in the third period. Dylan Strome scored his first two goals of the season in the third frame for the Capitals to force overtime.

Sean Monahan, who opened the scoring in the first period, had a goal and an assist. Brendan Gallagher scored midway through the second period on a vintage Gallagher goal which ended with him in the Capitals' net.

Monahan's goal came on the man advantage but it was the last time that the power play looked dangerous. The Canadiens squandered two opportunities with a 5-on-3 in the third period. Failing to score turned the game in Washington's favor with Strome's first goal coming a short time later.

Jake Allen made 30 saves, including a spectacular stop on Nicklas Backstrom after a feed from Alex Ovechkin. It was the best performance of any Canadiens goaltender this season.

It was an important game for Nick Suzuki who had two assists and led the team at the faceoff dot with a 68.75 percent success rate. The captain has been the recipient of criticism for his slow start so far this season. Marty St. Louis had said that Suzuki needed to play better.

Game Statistics

Canadiens (2-1-1)
Shots: 26
Face-off %: 58.5
Power play: 1/6
Penalty minutes: 10
Hits: 14
Blocks: 17

Capitals (1-2-1)
Shots: 32
Face-off %: 41.5
Power play: 0/5
Penalty minutes: 12
Hits: 14
Blocks: 19

Scoring Summary

Canadiens Scorers
1st period: Monahan (2)
2nd period: Gallagher (1)
3rd period: No scoring
OT: Caufield (3)
SO: n/a

Capitals Scorers
1st period: No scoring
2nd period: No scoring
3rd period: Strome (1), Strome (2)
OT: No scoring
SO: n/a

Goaltenders
MTL: Allen (W) 1-0-1
WSH: Kuemper (OTL) 1-1-1

Canadiens Players of the Game

Jake Allen - Allen kept the Canadiens in the game in the first period, as the Canadiens were outshot 12-6. Allen finished the contest with a .939 save percentage.

Sean Monahan - Monahan had a goal and an assist on 18:13 of icetime. Monahan had a 64.7 percent success rate on faceoffs.

Cole Caufield - Caufield had a goal and an assist on five shots on goal.

Video Highlights

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjWV3gUDSr0[/embed]

Post-game Quotes

Jake Allen on Brendan Gallagher

"That's vintage Gally. For all his years, that's where he makes his money! I'm happy for him to get on the scoresheet that way, and the right way."

Game Preview

Looking to Shut Down Ovechkin | PREVIEW: WSH @ MTL

Up Next

Sunday will be a travel day for the Montreal Canadiens as the team heads to Buffalo for their second road game of the season on Monday against the Sabres.

Be sure to bookmark THN.com/Montreal for year-round coverage of the Montreal Canadiens, Laval Rocket, and Habs prospects playing in leagues around the world.