Cole Caufield scored twice, as the Montreal Canadiens notched five unanswered goals to beat the visiting Utah Mammoth 6-2 on Saturday night.
Among the NHL leaders with 12 goals, Caufield scored in the second and third periods for the Canadiens, who erased a pair of one-goal deficits to extend their point streak to six games (4-0-2). Oliver Kapanen and Alex Newhook each had a goal with an assist, and Sam Montembeault made 25 saves for Montreal, which got more insurance from Nick Suzuki and Kirby Dach.
Kailer Yamamoto and Lawson Crouse each had a goal for Utah, which has lost four of five after winning seven straight.
Utah’s fourth line opened the scoring just 3:03 into the contest. Moving into the slot, Yamamoto got enough on the puck, while falling, to convert Ian Cole’s back-handed pass.
The Mammoth nearly went up 2-0 later in the period, but Montreal’s Jake Evans pushed the puck away just before it crossed the goal line after Barret Hayton redirected it through Montembeault’s legs.
Then with 5:15 remaining in the opening frame, Montreal equalized. Kapanen got the puck in his own end, raced into the Utah zone, dropped it off for teammate Ivan Demidov, who sent it back for the rookie to send past Utah’s Karel Vejmelka (17 saves).
The Mammoth went back ahead 6:02 into the second. With some Montreal players seemingly preoccupied with a no call for interference, Utah transitioned into the Canadiens zone and Crouse made good off some nifty passing from Jack McBain and Michael Carcone.
However, 42 seconds later, Montreal tied it again. Caufield, from the goal line left of the Utah net, found enough of an angle to beat Vejmelka.
The Canadiens took their first lead with 6:47 left in the second. After Kapanen pushed the puck, while on his stomach, along the boards in his own end, it came to Newhook, who weaved his way toward the net and completed a successful finish.
Caufield added some insurance with 6:31 remaining in regulation when he stuffed the puck just over the line, between Vejmelka and the corner of the net.
