MONTREAL — Cole Caufield scored his 44th goal of the season and Jakub Dobes made 41 saves as the Montreal Canadiens held off the Carolina Hurricanes for a 5-2 win on Tuesday.
Juraj Slafkovsky and Ivan Demidov had a goal and an assist each, while Oliver Kapanen also scored as Montreal (39-21-10) erased a two-goal deficit for its second consecutive win.
Jake Evans buried an empty-net goal with one minute left in regulation and Caufield added an assist for a two-point night.
Nikolaj Ehlers and Jordan Staal replied for Eastern Conference-leading Carolina (45-20-6), which lost for the first time in four games.
Frederik Andersen stopped 14 shots.
The Canadiens sat third in the Atlantic Division before Tuesday’s games with 86 points. The Detroit Red Wings, the top team outside the Eastern Conference playoff picture, trailed by two points with one more game played.
Ehlers opened the scoring on the power play 2:36 into the first period when Montreal defenceman Mike Matheson deflected his pass intended for Seth Jarvis into the Canadiens’ net. Staal doubled the lead at 7:09, beating Dobes glove side after Jalen Chatfield found him all alone in front.
Kapanen tipped in Struble’s point shot at 12:11 to give the Canadiens some life before Montreal struck twice in the second period.
Caufield took advantage of Andersen’s juicy rebound from a Nick Suzuki point shot to tie the game, then the American winger deflected a hard pass from Noah Dobson off Slafkovsky and in as the Canadiens jumped ahead at 9:19 in the middle frame.
Demidov pushed the lead to 4-2 with a slick deke on a breakaway with 6:06 remaining in the third period, sending the Bell Centre into a frenzy.
TAKEAWAYS
Canadiens: Caufield entered the night trailing Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon by two goals for the league lead. No Canadien has led the NHL in goals since Guy Lafleur in 1977-78.
Hurricanes: Outdone by a couple lapses in the second period. The Hurricanes dominated the shot count 16-4 in the first period and 17-4 in the third.
KEY MOMENT
Caufield appeared to score his second of the night — and 45th of the season — with his deflection on Slafkovsky’s goal. The crowd erupted into “Cau-field!” chants when he appeared on the big screen, only for light groans (and ultimately cheers) to follow when the goal was credited to Slafkovsky.
KEY STAT
The Canadiens secured their 24th comeback win of the season, tying for the most in a single campaign in franchise history (1992-93, 1975-76).
UP NEXT
Hurricanes: Host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.
Canadiens: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2026.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
