Canadiens erase four-goal deficit but fall 6-5 in overtime

The Montréal Canadiens came back from a four-goal deficit to force overtime Saturday night, but the Pittsburgh Penguins won 6-5 at PPG Paints Arena.

Montréal led 1-0 on Cole Caufield’s first-period goal before Pittsburgh scored five straight. Nick Suzuki cut the deficit late in the second period, Caufield scored again early in the third, and Chris Kreider and Ivan Demidov tied the game with goals 24 seconds apart in the final 68 seconds of regulation.

Tomas Novak scored the overtime winner 1:33 into the extra period. Kreider recorded his first two points with the Canadiens, while Suzuki had one goal and three assists and Lane Hutson added three assists.

The Canadiens said during the game that defenceman Alexandre Carrier was being evaluated and would not return. The club did not give a further diagnosis in its official recap published October 4.

Montréal returns home to play the Carolina Hurricanes at the Bell Centre on Tuesday, October 6, at 7 p.m. It will be the Canadiens’ home opener.

Illustrative stock image of an ice-hockey faceoff; it does not depict the reported game or either NHL team. Photo: Jerry Yu / Unsplash License. Cropped and resized.