Canadiens defeat Golden Knights as Cole Caufield extends goal streak

Jake Evans scored 3:58 into overtime and Cole Caufield extended his goal-scoring streak to a career-high six games, fueling the host Montreal Canadiens to a 3-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.

Evans skated up the right wing and drove to the net before converting a backhand shot as the Canadiens snapped a modest two-game losing streak.

Caufield had an apparent goal overturned via video review before scoring at 8:55 of the second period. Caufield's team-leading 30th goal of the season boosted his streak to six games, tying Max Pacioretty (2014-15) and Max Domi (2019-20) for the longest run by a member of the franchise over the past 30 years.

Phillip Danault scored a goal and Jakub Dobes made 32 saves for Montreal.

Pavel Dorofeyev scored two goals and Akira Schmid turned aside 23 shots for the Golden Knights, who have lost four of their last five contests following a season-high seven-game winning streak.

Dorofeyev's deflection of defenseman Ben Hutton's shot forged a 2-2 tie with 3:08 remaining in the third period. The goal was his team-leading 24th goal of the season and eighth in his last nine games

Vegas forced a turnover in its defensive end, allowing Dorofeyev to skate through the neutral zone and cross the blue line on a 2-on-1 rush with Braeden Bowman.

Dorofeyev opted to keep the puck and wired a shot over the glove of Dobes to open the scoring at 8:38 of the first period.

The Canadiens pulled even at 4:24 of the second period after Danault deflected a shot by Zack Bolduc. The goal was the second in 17 games for Danault, who failed to find the net in 30 games earlier this season with the Los Angeles Kings.

Caufield converted while stationed below the goal line to give Montreal a 2-1 lead. The goal was Caufield's ninth in his last six games.