Jan 27, 2026; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes (75) makes a save against the Vegas Golden Knights during the first period at the Bell Centre. | Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
First period
I’m not sure why the fans are booing Mitch Marner whenever he touches the puck. Maybe they were just sick of hearing about him after his return to Toronto.
A pretty lazy start from both teams. But at least it’s not a disastrous one like the game versus Buffalo.
One shot for the Habs through six minutes. They could have really asserted themselves with an energetic start, but alas.
Montreal’s best chance comes off an offensive-zone faceoff win by Nick Suzuki. Alexandre Texier gets the puck in the low slot, but fires it just wide far-side.
Juraj Slafkovský’s line was doing really well along the boards in the offensive zone, but Alexandre Carrier decided to jump up ahead of Ivan Demidov attempting to keep a cycle going, and that left Demidov to be swarmed by two Golden Knights players. Lane Hutson did his best on the two-on-one, but Pavel Dorofeyev held the puck himself and fired it past Jakub Dobeš’s glove.
Demidov peels the puck off the boards under pressure from two players, used his edges to gets behind them, then pulls the puck toward the slot for a chance. One of the best plays he’s made in his career so far. Top-end skill and full effort. What a player he will become.
That line is really cycling well.
Cole Caufield has the puck coming to him with an empty net, Akira Schmid throws his hands up in desperation as has the puck go off the edge of his blocker to deny a goal.
Montreal is getting chances, and it started a couple of shifts before the Dorofeyev goal.
Jake Evans just tips a quick Hutson snapshot wide of the net.
The Golden Knights may have outshot Montreal 10-6 in the period, but scoring chances were the same score the other way, and high-dangers chances were 7-1 Habs. If Montreal had started the period the way they played the latter half, the score might be 3-0 right now. If they keep this up however, this one-goal deficit shouldn’t last long.
Second period
Evans goes down on an accidental trip from Ivan Barbashev. The ref didn’t want to call it, but with possession in the balance, he had to raise his arm.
I’ll take a long sequence of passes from the top unit as long as the puck ultimately ends up on Caufield’s stick. He had to rotate up from his goal-line position as the Golden Knights had that covered, but still was able to pound the puck behind Schmid.
A review from Las Vegas determines that the initial entry was offside, so they’ll have to do it all again.
Not on this power play. They can’t get set up again.
The Golden Knights send the puck around the boards, and Zachary Bolduc intercepts it on the path. He flings it high toward the net, and Phillip Danault is standing in the slot to tip it in for the official tying goal.
Phil-ing the net!
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) January 27, 2026 at 9:08 PM
Kirby Dach and Evans have a two-on-one, but can’t connect for a shot.
Dobeš makes two huge saves on a pass from the boards to the opposite side of the crease to Dorofeyev. Montreal hasn’t had many of those in the last month.
Mike Matheson dives to break up a pass by Las Vegas, and that not only ends the danger, but launches a three-on-one.
Caufield misses the target on the odd-man rush, but has the puck come back to him just below the goal line, and he’s able to pull it back and knock it in a split-second before Schmid can get his foot to the post. Caufield has his 30th goal of the season, and is on pace for 46.
30 goals for Cole Caufield!
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) January 27, 2026 at 9:18 PM
Danault drives to the net and draws a hooking call on Alexander Holtz. Caufield hops over the boards.
First #13 has to break up a short-handed two-on-one with a good backcheck off a Suzuki giveaway.
The Golden Knights actually earned momentum from that penalty kill. Another case of Montreal not capitalizing on a moment that could have separated them from an opponent.
Montreal is beginning to spend more time in its zone.
Mark Stone takes the puck back to the point and gets shoved down by Matheson. An odd-man rush ensues, but Montreal can’t cap it off.
With the play back in the Habs’ end, Caufield takes a hooking penalty, sending out the Golden Knights’ five-forward power play for the first time.
They have pretty good movement with Marner quarterbacking up high, but Montreal’s structure looks a lot better than it did versus Boston.
Hutson goes down as he tries to spin away from a check in the offensive zone, then clamps Tomas Hertl’s stick between his arm and his body. The Golden Knights’ power play will go right back to work. But they can’t get a shot before the horn sounds, so Montreal will go to the intermission with a lead.
The Habs gave up a bit too much in terms of scoring chances that period, but Dobeš has their backs tonight.
Third period
Oliver Kapanen tries to stay onside on a zone entry and a backchecking player dramatically falls to the ice around him. The ref bites on the play and sends the Golden Knights right back out on the power play.
This is starting to look a lot like the game in Edmonton.
Vegas seems to know it didn’t deserve the penalty, as it barely got set up in the offensive zone.
The crowd is singing “Olé!” after that latest kill.
Three officials yell at Suzuki that he’s offside. He ignores them all and monitors the player behind the net to disrupt the breakout.
Momentum is with Las Vegas, as you’d expect given all their time on the man advantage.
Hertl accepts a cross-crease pass, but doesn’t get everything on the shot and the puck goes off the post.
Shea Theodore rams his stick into Kaiden Guhle’s stomach as the Habs defenceman is down on the ice. It’s not a hockey play and should be a five-minute major, but Montreal will settle for a two-minute power play on the “slashing” call. Time to put this team away.
Or they’ll just use it as a rest. Nothing dangerous to test Schmid in those two minutes as they just played it safe with the puck near the goal line.
Excellent shift from Slafkovský’s trio to keep the Golden Knights in their own zone for well over a minute. Now there are just over four to play.
Montreal was doing a great job of defending, but Dorofeyev still found a way to tip the puck in while sliding toward the boards from the slot. Not a lot you can do to defend something like that.
Texier gets met with resistance as he powers toward the net for a late chance, but powers through the contact and draws a tripping penalty from Rasmus Andersson.
Is there enough time for some more regulation heroics from Caufield?
I guess he’ll have to do in overtime instead.
Overtime
Schmid gets caught well out of position, but is still able to lunge across and snag a weak backhand attempt from Slafkovský at the top of the crease.
Martin St-Louis uses his timeout to draw up a play for the top four forwards. It’s fair to say they need it after just passing it around for about a minute.
Texier overskates the puck, but recovers just in time to move it out of the zone. Evans collects it, and switches on power-forward mode to drive past his defender, across Schmid and deposit the puck in the net.
JAKE EVANS OT HERO
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) January 27, 2026 at 10:37 PM
That’s a sweep of the Golden Knights, and Montreal will at least keep pace with the rest of the teams in the division with the effort.
Next up the toughest possible test, the Colorado Avalanche, on Thursday.
EOTP 3 Stars
3) You had me at “huge pad save”
2) A frame-by-frame inspection is just unnecessary
1) They’re really working hard out there
