Caufield scores in OT again as Canadiens slip past Leafs 3-2

<p>MONTREAL &mdash; Cole Caufield scored at 4:43 of overtime and the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 in a potential North Division playoff preview Monday.</p>
<p>The rookie took a pass from Jeff Petry and wired home his second NHL goal — and second OT winner in as many games.</p>
<p>Tyler Toffoli and Philip Danault scored in regulation for Montreal. Jake Allen made 27 stops for the Canadiens, who entered having won two in a row, including Saturday’s dramatic 2-1 overtime triumph at the Bell Centre against the Ottawa Senators when Caufield was also the star. </p>
<p>Petry and Nick Suzuki added three assists each on Monday.</p>
<p>Auston Matthews, with his league-leading 39th goal of the season, and Morgan Rielly scored for Toronto, which got 20 saves from Jack Campbell.</p>
<p>The first-place Leafs fell to 5-3-0 against the Canadiens, who are chasing the Winnipeg Jets for third in the division. </p>
<p>Toronto lost veteran forward Nick Foligno to a lower-body injury right before Matthews scored late in the second period.</p>
<p>The Leafs and Canadiens will play twice more this week — Thursday and Saturday in Toronto — although Montreal also has a matchup with the Senators in Ottawa on Wednesday.</p>
<p>The Canadiens were once again without injured No. 1 goalie Carey Price, captain Shea Weber, as well as forwards Tomas Tatar, Paul Byron and Brendan Gallagher, while winger Jonathan Drouin remains out for personal reasons. </p>
<p>Leafs defenseman Justin Holl didn’t dress after taking a puck in the face Saturday, which opened the door for Timothy Liljegren to draw in on the second blue-line pair with Jake Muzzin. Zach Hyman and Zach Bogosian also remain sidelined with injuries.</p>
<p>Down 2-1 late in the third period, Danaut jammed in his fifth of the season with 51.8 seconds left in regulation after beating Matthews on an offensive zone faceoff.</p>
<p>Toffoli missed the net on a breakaway in extra time looking for his second goal of the game before Matthews and Mitch Marner couldn’t connect on a 2-on-0. John Tavares then hit the post for Toronto.</p>
<p>Matthews snapped a 1-1 tie with 2:39 left in the second, tipping Muzzin’s point shot past Allen as he battled in front with Canadiens defenseman Joel Edmundson.</p>
<p>The goal was Matthews’ sixth in as many games, 18th in his past 18 games, and 18th in 22 career outings versus the Canadiens.</p>
<p>Toffoli got Montreal on the board earlier in the period on a power play when he took a pass from Suzuki and beat Campbell for his 28th at 1:55 on Toronto’s third penalty of the game.</p>
<p>The Leafs got their first man advantage not long after, but Campbell had to make a big stop off Artturi Lehkonen on a 2-on-1 with Jake Evans following Rasmus Sandin’s turnover.</p>
<p>Allen stopped William Nylander on a breakaway later in the period, but Matthews wouldn’t be denied on his deflection.</p>
<p>Montreal looked to push in the third, with Campbell denying Ben Chiarot on a delayed penalty before stopping Josh Anderson at the side of his net before Danault forced OT late.</p>
<p>Rielly opened the scoring at 4:07 of the first on a point shot through a screen for his fifth goal of the season, and first in 13 games. The sequence was set up by Alex Galchenyuk, who earned his first-ever point against Montreal in his 10th game against the team that drafted him No. 3 overall in 2012.</p>
<p>Montreal came close to getting on the board later in the period when Caufield rang a shot off Campbell’s crossbar on the power play. Toronto almost made it 2-0 seconds later when Marner stole the puck from Alexander Romanov, but Allen got a piece of the breakaway chance.</p>
<p>Campbell then robbed Jesperi Kotkaniemi with his glove on another man advantage before also denying Eric Staal.</p>
<p>UP NEXT:</p>
<p>Maple Leafs: host Montreal on Thursday.</p>
<p>Canadiens: at Ottawa on Wednesday.</p>
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