Cole Caulfield scores in OT to lift the Canadiens past the Sharks, 4-3

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Montreal Canadiens’ Cole Caufield (13) celebrates with goaltender Sam Montembeault after scoring the winning goal against the San Jose Sharks during overtime NHL hockey action in Montreal, Thursday, February 27, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Montreal Canadiens’ Alex Newhook (15) scores against San Jose Sharks goaltender Alexandar Georgiev during third period NHL hockey action in Montreal, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Montreal Canadiens’ Nick Suzuki, right, celebrates with teammates after scoring against the San Jose Sharks during first period NHL hockey action in Montreal, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Montreal Canadiens’ Patrik Laine (92) tries to tip the puck by San Jose Sharks goaltender Alexandar Georgiev as Sharks’ Collin Graf (51) defends during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

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San Jose Sharks’ Fabian Zetterlund (20) moves in to score on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault as Canadiens’ Lane Hutson (48) defends during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

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San Jose Sharks’ Nico Sturm (7) celebrates with teammates Mario Ferraro (38) and Collin Graf (51) after scoring against Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

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San Jose Sharks goaltender Alexandar Georgiev is scored on by Montreal Canadiens’ Nick Suzuki during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

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San Jose Sharks goaltender Alexandar Georgiev (40) stops Montreal Canadiens’ Brendan Gallagher (11) as Sharks’ Shakir Mukhamadullin (85) and Luke Kunin (11) defend during sceond period NHL hockey action in Montreal, Thursday, February 27, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Montreal Canadiens’ Alexandre Carrier (45) and San Jose Sharks’ Nico Sturm (7) challenges for the puck during second period NHL hockey action in Montreal, Thursday, February 27, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

MONTREAL (AP) — Cole Caufield scored at 3:21 of overtime and the Montreal Canadiens beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 on Thursday night for their third straight victory since the 4 Nations Face-Off break.

Caufield put the puck between his legs to get around Macklin Celebrini, then beat Alexandar Georgiev with a shot over his right pad. Caufield leads the Canadiens with 28 goals.

Montreal captain Nick Suzuki scored two first-period goals, and Alex Newhook had his first goal since since Feb. 4. Samuel Montembeault stopped 22 shots for his third win a row.

Fabian Zetterlund, Nico Sturm and Will Smith scored for San Jose, Last in the NHL, the Sharks have lost seven straight and 13 of 14.

Takeaways

Canadiens: Montreal trailed by a goal three separate times in regulation, ultimately answering back with goals of their own.

Sharks: San Jose lost for the first time at the Bell Centre since March 21, 2015. The Sharks had won their last eight meetings against the Canadiens in Montreal.

Key moment

With Montreal down 2-1 with under a minute remaining in the first period, Suzuki accepted a feed from Hutson before firing a snap shot past Georgiev from the left faceoff circle for his second goal of the period.

Key stat

Suzuki first-period goals were his first career goals against San Jose.

Up next

Both teams are in action Saturday night. San Jose is at Ottawa, and Montreal is at Buffalo.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl