Caufield and Canadiens Jump On Mammoth Mistakes in 6-2 Win

Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield’s two goals, to temporarily pull into top spot in the league with 12, led the Habs to a 6-2 win over the Utah Mammoth on Saturday that was much closer than the final score might make it seem.

Game Recap

With the Canadiens up 3-2 in the dying minutes of the third period, Caufield snuck one in past Mammoth goalie Karel Vejmelka’s goal line that the officials initially called off. Replays confirmed Caufield was right to celebrate though, after catching Vejmelka and defenseman Nate Schmidt off guard on the play when he made his way from behind the net to jam it in for the 4-2 insurance marker. From there, the Mammoth just got sloppier, looking to salvage something after they had let 1-0 and 2-1 leads go to waste on the road.

Looking for the right opportunity to pull Vejmelka for the extra man, the Mammoth instead got caught on a bad line change. Alex Newhook found Nick Suzuki for the one-time 5-2 marker on what amounted to a two-on-zero odd-man rush, while Kirby Dach brought a close to the scoring on a breakaway with just over 30 seconds remaining with his fourth goal in the last three games.

Things had started well enough for the Mammoth. Kailer Yamamoto got them on the board first, scoring on a rebound off goalie Sam Montembeault three minutes into the contest. After Canadiens forward Oliver Kapanen had tied it up later in the period, Lawson Crouse put the visitors up 2-1 in the second. On an odd-man rush, created in part by Josh Anderson arguing an interference non-call, Crouse completed a tic-tac-toe play that made it look as though things weren’t going to go the Habs’ way on this night.

The sentiment was fleeting. Forty-two seconds later, Caufield scored his first of the game, on a shot from the goal line that Vejmelka probably should have had, to pull even with Frank Mahovlich on the team’s all-time goals list with his 129th career goal. Caufield’s insurance marker the next period gave him sole ownership of 45th spot.

Newhook, whose underrated start to the season is starting to gain some attention, scored the game-winning goal later in the second. He beat JJ Peterka as the last (non-defense)man back, turning him inside out before putting it past Vejmelka with a beautiful shot and overall effort. The last sentiment holds true for the team as a whole, as the 10-3-2 Canadiens continue to find themselves atop the Atlantic Division. They next host the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday. The 9-6 Mammoth visit the Ottawa Senators on Sunday.