MONTREAL — The chance to make history didn’t sneak up on Cole Caufield.
No Montreal Canadien had reached 40 goals in 32 years, since Vincent Damphousse in 1993-94 — back when the franchise still called the Forum home.
And in a city where hockey dominates the conversation, the drought had become difficult to ignore.
“You guys talk about it a lot,” Caufield told a group of reporters.
Not anymore.
Caufield scored his 40th of the season with 22 seconds remaining in overtime as Montreal edged the Boston Bruins 3-2 on Tuesday, reaching the milestone in dramatic fashion.
The sharpshooting winger, a gifted scorer who seemed destined to get there, tapped in a pinpoint pass from captain Nick Suzuki moments after Jakub Dobes denied Pavel Zacha a hat trick on a breakaway.
“Nick and I have been doing this for a while,” Caufield said. “Felt right tonight to get it done that way.”
“It’s what he does,” added Suzuki, who quickly scooped up the puck from the back of the net before celebrating with his longtime linemate. “And 40 is just a start for him.”
Introduced at centre ice as the first star, Caufield tapped his chest and let out an F-bomb in astonishment as the Bell Centre crowd hit ear-splitting decibels.
“Words can’t really describe the kind of feeling that you get out there with the fans behind you, it really doesn’t make sense,” said Caufield, who appears to thrive under the bright spotlight in Montreal.
“To play here and you know it’s sold out every night, you go on the road and it just doesn’t feel the same. … The pressure comes with playing in the best city in the world to play hockey.”
Caufield’s goal was his 13th career overtime winner, and league-leading fifth this season.
The 25-year-old American now has 40 goals — and 28 assists — through 66 games, putting him just shy of a 50-goal pace.
But beyond scoring, coach Martin St. Louis pointed to Caufield’s development away from the puck.
“All his life, before he got here, he played with the puck a lot. In the NHL, the game is played without the puck,” St. Louis said. “There are actions you need to do on the ice for your team to have the puck more. When you do that, if your team has the puck more, and Cole is on the ice, he’ll get more touches. It’s a domino effect.”
St. Louis and the five-foot-eight Caufield, who like his coach was viewed as undersized when he entered the league, have worked to round out his play since the former league MVP took over behind the bench in 2022.
Now Caufield is reaping the rewards.
“It’s pretty special to have a guy like that be your coach and mentor,” Caufield said. “He’s done a lot for my full 200-foot game, and I think without that, I maybe don’t get as many chances. We’ve been working at this for a long time, so it obviously feels pretty good, but there’s still more time to come.”
The goal also secured two important points against a rival that’s breathing down Montreal’s neck in a tight Eastern Conference. The Canadiens (37-20-10), who had lost two straight, sit third in the Atlantic Division, two points ahead of Boston and three up on the Columbus Blue Jackets, the first team outside the playoff picture.
900 FOR GALLY
Veteran, grit-and-grind winger Brendan Gallagher received an ovation of his own for skating in 900 NHL games, all for Montreal.
Known for crashing the crease and wearing his heart on his sleeve, the 33-year-old from Edmonton became only the 13th player in franchise history to play that many in a Canadiens sweater.
“It’s one of those things where you take a second to really appreciate where you are,” Gallagher said after Tuesday’s morning skate. “I love being a Montreal Canadien, I love playing in front of these fans, and to get to do it for 900 games is just incredibly special to me.”
The Canadiens honoured their longest-serving player with a tribute on the big screen following the first commercial break, interrupting the drop of the puck as Gallagher lined up for an offensive-zone faceoff.
The milestone also came after the five-foot-nine forward was a healthy scratch for the first time since playing in his first NHL game Jan. 22, 2013.
“When you’re in a place for so long, it says a lot about your character, your human side, the presence that you bring, more than on the ice,” St. Louis said. “The way he plays, it’s galvanizing. There’s a galvanizing energy. It’s not easy to play 900 games in the NHL. And the 900 games he played, it’s a lot of effort. He’s not a perimeter player. He’s a guy who’s in the paint. He takes big hits. He’s a warrior.
“The way he plays, it isn’t easy to get to 900 games.”
Now that he’s reached 900, are Gallagher’s eyes set on 1,000?
“Of course. Once you hit 900, you feel like you’re that close,” he said. “It’d be something that I’d like to have the opportunity to get, for sure.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 17, 2026.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
