Caufield scores 33rd, Canadiens beat Panthers 3-1 to stay one point outside playoffs

Montreal Canadiens' Cole Caufield (13) spins before scoring on Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) during first period NHL hockey action in Montreal on Saturday, March 15, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

March 15, 2025 - 7:00 PM

MONTREAL - Cole Caufield scored his team-leading 33rd goal and added an assist to help the Montreal Canadiens beat the Florida Panthers 3-1 on Saturday.

Patrik Laine and Christian Dvorak — with his 100th career goal — also scored for Montreal (32-27-7), while Sam Montembeault made 21 saves, including a windmill glove stop on Carter Verhaeghe late. The Canadiens were coming off a 5-4 overtime loss to Seattle on Wednesday.

Mackie Samoskevich replied for Florida (41-23-3), which lost for the second time in nine games. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped only 12 shots.

The Canadiens remained within a point of the playoffs with 71 points. The New York Rangers (72 points) defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets (70 points) 4-0 to take hold of the Eastern Conference’s second wild card. The Panthers, meanwhile, were first in the Atlantic Division.

Laine opened the scoring with a power-play goal 5:15 into the game. After missing a couple attempts, the Finnish sharpshooter ripped a wrist shot over Bobrovsky’s left shoulder for his 16th — and 13th with the man-advantage — in 36 games.

Alex Newhook appeared to make it 2-0 off a sweet feed from Suzuki, but the goal was overturned after the Panthers challenged for goalie interference.

Caufield followed soon after with a goal at 15:56 of the first, before Samoskevich equalized in the second.

Dvorak deflected a point shot from David Savard to make it 3-1 at 8:11 of the third.

TAKEAWAYS

Canadiens: Montreal’s first line stayed hot, even though Nick Suzuki was held off the scoresheet. Caufield’s two points and Juraj Slafkovsky’s assist gave the top trio a combined 40 points in 10 games since Feb. 22.

Panthers: The defending Stanley Cup champions played their third consecutive game without Matthew Tkachuk (lower body), deadline acquisition Brad Marchand (upper body) and defenceman Aaron Ekblad (suspension).

KEY MOMENT

After Dvorak made it 3-1, Canadiens fans started doing the wave and chanting “Olé, Olé, Olé” to the top of their lungs for 10 minutes — including an entire TV timeout.

KEY STAT

Lane Hutson became the fourth-fastest defenceman to register 50 NHL assists. The rookie blueliner and Calder Trophy candidate did it in 68 games, behind only Larry Murphy (62), Mark Howe (65) and Stefan Persson (66).

Hutson is also the second-fastest player in Canadiens history to reach the mark after Vincent Damphousse (66).

UP NEXT

Panthers: Visit the New York Islanders on Sunday.

Canadiens: Host the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 15, 2025.