Cole Caufield scores overtime winner as Canadiens down Sabres 4-3

MONTREAL — Cole Caufield scored twice, including the overtime winner, to lift the Montreal Canadiens past the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 on Saturday night.

Caufield went on a breakaway after Josh Norris missed his shot on a three-on-one rush before ripping a shot into the top-left corner 54 seconds into the extra period.

Zachary Bolduc and Alexandre Texier also scored as Montreal (4-3-1) built a two-goal lead before Buffalo stormed back. Juraj Slafkovsky and Alexandre Carrier added two assists each.

Jacob Fowler stopped 23 shots in his fourth start in five games.

Jack Quinn, Tage Thompson and Norris replied for Buffalo (4-3-2), which fell 4-3 in a shootout to the Canadiens on Tuesday. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 30 saves.

Thompson tied the game 3-3 with 9:48 remaining in the third period after Josh Doan found him alone at the side of the net to eventually force overtime.

Norris opened the scoring for the Sabres at 8:21 in a sluggish first period for the Canadiens, tallying his second goal this season on a rebound after Montreal defenceman David Reinbacher turned the puck over in the neutral zone.

The Canadiens broke out of a sluggish start with a tying goal on their first shot. Bolduc was promoted to Montreal’s top power-play unit and tipped in Nick Suzuki’s wrist shot at 11:45 of the opening period for his fourth of the campaign.

Caufield made it 2-1 for Montreal at 14:01 when he hammered a shot past an unsuspecting Luukkonen after Slafkovsky beat Olen Zellweger to a loose puck behind Buffalo’s net.

Texier buried a rebound at 7:39 in the second period. Quinn responded two minutes later with a short-handed goal assisted by Zach Benson after a heads-up dump-in from Mattias Samuelsson, cutting Montreal’s lead to 3-2 after 40 minutes.

TAKEAWAYS

Canadiens: Reinbacher and forward Oliver Kapanen made their season debuts for Montreal. A fifth overall draft pick in 2023, Reinbacher played his third NHL game after beginning this season in the American Hockey League. Kapanen, meanwhile, missed the Canadiens’ first seven games due to a lower-body injury. He scored 22 goals in 82 games as a rookie in 2025-26.

Sabres: Quinn stayed hot, scoring his fifth of the season after a four-point outburst in Thursday’s 5-4 comeback win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in overtime. The 25-year-old winger from Ottawa scored a career-high 20 goals last season.

KEY MOMENT

The Sabres went on the power play with 2:17 remaining in regulation after Slafkovsky tripped Jiri Kulich but couldn’t capitalize despite spending the majority of the time in Montreal’s zone.

KEY STAT

Suzuki has registered a point in 10 consecutive regular-season games against the Sabres.

UP NEXT

Sabres: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday.

Canadiens: Host the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2026.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press