Caufield powers Canadiens to 3-1 victory over Panthers

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Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault celebrates a win over the Florida Panthers with teammates Cole Caufield (13), Josh Anderson (17) and Brendan Gallagher (11) following third period NHL hockey action in Montreal on Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Florida Panthers’ Uvis Balinskis (26) checks Montreal Canadiens’ Alexandre Carrier (45) into the boards during first period NHL hockey action in Montreal on Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Montreal Canadiens’ Cole Caufield (13) skates in to celebrate a goal by teammate Patrik Laine (92) against the Florida Panthers during first period NHL hockey action in Montreal on Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault (35) keeps an eye on the puck as Florida Panthers’ Anton Lundell (15) and Canadiens’ David Savard (58) come in for the rebound during third period NHL hockey action in Montreal on Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) stops a shot by Montreal Canadiens’ Kaiden Guhle (21) as Panthers’ Seth Jones (3) tries to defend during third period NHL hockey action in Montreal on Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault (35) stops a shot by Florida Panthers’ Seth Jones (3) as Canadiens’ Mike Matheson (8) defends during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal on Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) defends as Montreal Canadiens’ Lane Hutson (48) drives to the net against Panthers’ Dmitry Kulikov (7) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal on Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) looks back as Montreal Canadiens’ Juraj Slafkovsky (20) looks for the rebound in front of the net as Panthers’ Gustav Forsling (42) defends during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal on Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Montreal Canadiens’ Brendan Gallagher (11) is upended by Florida Panthers’ Nico Sturm (8) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal on Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Florida Panthers’ Mackie Samoskevich (25) scores on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault (35) as Canadians’ Jake Evans (71) looks on during second period NHL hockey action in Montreal on Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

MONTREAL (AP) — Cole Caufield scored his team-leading 33rd goal and added an assist to help the Montreal Canadiens beat the Florida Panthers 3-1 on Saturday night.

Patrik Laine and Christian Dvorak — with his 100th career goal — also scored for Montreal. Sam Montembeault made 21 saves, including a windmill glove stop on Carter Verhaeghe late.

Mackie Samoskevich scored for Florida, which lost for the second time in nine games. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 12 shots.

The Canadiens, who were coming off a 5-4 overtime loss to Seattle on Wednesday, remained within a point of being in playoff position with 71 points.

Laine opened the scoring with a power-play goal 5:15 into the game, ripping a wrist shot over Bobrovsky’s left shoulder for his 16th — and 13th with the man-advantage — in 36 games.

Alex Newhook appeared to make it 2-0 off a feed from Suzuki, but the goal was overturned after the Panthers challenged for goalie interference.

Caufield followed soon after with a goal at 15:56 of the first, before Samoskevich tied it in the second.

Dvorak deflected a point shot from David Savard to make it 3-1 at 8:11 of the third.

Takeaways

Canadiens: Montreal’s first line stayed hot, even though Nick Suzuki was held off the scoresheet. Caufield’s two points and Juraj Slafkovsky’s assist gave the top trio a combined 40 points in 10 games since Feb. 22.

Panthers: The defending Stanley Cup champions played their third consecutive game without Matthew Tkachuk (lower body), deadline acquisition Brad Marchand (upper body) and defenseman Aaron Ekblad (suspension).

Key moment

After Dvorak made it 3-1, Canadiens fans started doing the wave and chanting “Olé, Olé, Olé” for 10 minutes — including during an entire TV timeout.

Key stat

Lane Hutson became the fourth-fastest defenseman to get 50 NHL assists. The rookie did it in 68 games, behind only Larry Murphy (62), Mark Howe (65) and Stefan Persson (66). Hutson is also the second-fastest player in Canadiens history to reach the mark after Vincent Damphousse (66).

Up next

The Panthers visit the New York Islanders on Sunday, and the Canadiens host the Senators on Tuesday.

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