Caufield lifts Canadiens to OT victory against Sharks

MONTREAL -- Cole Caufield scored at 3:21 of overtime to give the Montreal Canadiens a 4-3 win against the San Jose Sharks at Bell Centre on Thursday.

Caufield dragged the puck between his legs to get around Macklin Celebrini in the left face-off circle before shooting over Alexandar Georgiev’s right pad.

“We really needed those two points and it wasn’t our best for all of that game, but we found a way to win in OT and Cole made an amazing play,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said.

Suzuki had two goals and an assist, and Sam Montembeault made 23 saves for Montreal (28-26-5), which has won three straight, all since the 4 Nations Face-Off break.

“It’s kind of just do-or-die, that’s kind of what it is right now,” Caufield said. “I think guys got some rest, some bodies were back, and we play a good team game. And when we do that we’re pretty dominant and I think we’ve just got to keep that going, stay simple and just stay in the moment.”

Will Smith had a goal and an assist, Alexander Wennberg had two assists, and Georgiev made 29 saves for San Jose (15-36-9), which has lost seven straight (0-4-3) and has one win in its past 14 games (1-10-3).

“We’ve got to learn how to win,” Smith said. “It’s been I don’t know how many times this year, so it adds up and we’ve just got to be better.”

Fabian Zetterlund put San Jose up 1-0 at 3:56 of the first period. He tucked the puck into an open left side after Smith slid a backhand pass out front as he cut behind the net.

Suzuki tied it 1-1 at 6:49 when he one-timed a pass from Caufield on a 2-on-1.

Nico Sturm gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead at 12:38. All three San Jose forwards drove to the net, and Sturm finished off a touch pass from Klim Kostin after Collin Graf sent a pass out front from behind the goal line.

Suzuki’s second goal of the game tied it 2-2 at 19:04. He put a wrist shot past Georgiev’s glove from the left circle.

“I think we just didn’t really have our best,” Suzuki said. “They score, and then we come back and get one, and then we’re playing pretty good and they get one. We were kind of just fighting our way through the first period, and the second wasn’t as good either. I thought overall in the third period we were better and found a way.”

Smith put San Jose ahead 3-2 at 17:21 of the second when he drove in with Zetterlund on a 2-on-1 and shot past Montembeault’s glove from the left circle.

“It was kind of a bouncing puck so I tried to settle it down,” Smith said. “I just saw an opening and I put it there.”

Alex Newhook tied it 3-3 at 2:22 of the third period with a tap-in near the right post.

“We just can’t break a game open, that’s for sure,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said.

Owen Beck got the secondary assist for his first point in eight NHL games, including seven this season.

“It took long enough,” the forward said. “You always want to produce no matter the role, the league, the situation. You always want to contribute so it was definitely in the back of my mind, but just awesome to get that one off my back.”

NOTES: Sharks defenseman Henry Thrun (undisclosed) left the game at 2:22 of the third period. There was no update. … Montreal’s Lane Hutson (assist) became the sixth-fastest rookie defenseman in NHL history to reach 40 assists in a season (59 games). Only Larry Murphy (48 games, 1980-81), Stefan Persson (50 games, 1977-78), Chris Chelios (53 games, 1984-85), Brian Leetch (54 games, 1988-89) and Nicklas Lidstrom (56 games, 1991-92) have reached the mark in fewer games. … Caufield scored his eighth overtime goal to tie Johnny Gagnon for the fourth most in Canadiens history, behind Howie Morenz (10), Max Pacioretty (10) and Aurel Joliat (nine). … Suzuki reached 60 points (18 goals, 42 assists) for the fourth consecutive season. Only Guy Lafleur (10), Yvan Cournoyer (nine), Mats Naslund (seven), Steve Shutt (seven) and Maurice Richard (five) have had more consecutive 60-point seasons for the Canadiens.