Cole Caufield Scores A Late Goal And Leads Habs Over The Wild

The Montreal Canadiens beat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on Tuesday night thanks to a Cole Caufield goal with 15 seconds left in regulation to avoid overtime. With the win, the Habs have finally snapped 9-game losing streak against the Wild that dates back to October 17th, 2019. The Habs actually controlled the game from start to finish on Tuesday night as they outshot the Wild 33-19.

The #Habs defeat the #Wild 4–3, with Cole Caufield scoring the game-winner with just 15 seconds left.

Thoughts?

Les Canadiens ont remporté une victoire de 4–3 contre le Wild.

Prochain match : Canadiens vs Sabres
22 janvier à 19 h#GoHabsGo #thesickpodcast @TonyMarinaro pic.twitter.com/6Myc8Msp7q

— The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro (@thesickpodcasts) January 21, 2026

Despite the score finishing 4-3, the actual game was dominated by the Habs, and they could have easily won by 3 or 4 goals had it not been for the great play of Wild rookie netminder Jesper Wallstedt, who kept his team in the game early. In the first period, the Canadiens outshot the Wild 15-2 but only led 2-1 after 20 minutes of play.

While Wallstedt kept the Wild in the game, Jakub Dobes was likely one of the biggest crutches for the Habs on the night. He didn’t play terribly, but the first two goals that he allowed were probably shots that he would have wanted back despite being screened. Aside from those 2 goals, Dobes was able to put together a solid game, but when there is a goalie who is playing as well Wallestadt did on Tuesday, those 2 goals will end up costing your team. Luckily, just like they have over Dobes’ last 3 starts, the Habs skaters got the job done to get Dobes his team-leading 15th win of the season.

Ivan Demidov (0-2—2) recorded his 10th multi-point game and became the first @CanadiensMTL rookie to reach that mark in a season in 50 games or fewer since Gilbert Dionne (34 GP) in 1991-92.#NHLStats: https://t.co/XhhNZiuQlE pic.twitter.com/5kZhO5nYjm

— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) January 21, 2026

One player who really stood out for the Habs on Tuesday night was rookie sensation Ivan Demidov. The Russian forward helped set up 2 goals and almost scored on a few other occasions during the game. Demidov was all over the ice all night long as he outplayed Kirill Kaprizov for most of the night, who many, including himself, have compared him to since being drafted. This game was a great way to show why he won’t make it easy for defenseman Matthew Schaefer to win the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year.

The Canadiens came into Tuesday’s game hungry to end their long drought against the Wild. Meanwhile, the Wild came into the game looking sluggish after coming into Montreal late on Monday night following their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. As a result, the Habs threw everything they had early on at Wallestadt, who was a wall throughout the first half of the opening frame.

Vladimir Tarasenko stays hot with the game’s opening goal 🔥 pic.twitter.com/xeUHGjVMth

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 21, 2026

Despite the Habs dominating the game early on, it was actually the Wild who would open the scoring thanks to Vladimir Tarasenko on the power play. On the Wild’s first chance of the game, they would strike when Mats Zuccarello would make a cross-ice pass over to Tarasenko, who would one-time a shot past Dobes from inside the right faceoff circle.

Phillip Danault snaps a 51-game goalless drought#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/K07bXe35BT

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) January 21, 2026

A little later, the Canadiens would finally solve Wallestadt, as Phillip Danault would bury his 1st goal of the season and his 1st since returning to the Canadiens last month. Danault’s goal would occur as a result of a Kaiden Guhle shot that was tipped on net by Josh Anderson that created a rebound for the Habs veteran centre to jump on and put the puck in the net to tie the game at 1.

Known goal scorer Alexandre Carrier 🔥🤷‍♂️ #gohabsgo pic.twitter.com/cRxJZ800vp

— Big Head Habs (@BigHeadHabs24) January 21, 2026

In the last minute of the first period, Mike Matheson would shoot a wrister towards the net from the blue line, which would be redirected by a pinching Alexandre Carrier to give the Canadiens a 2-1 lead. With this goal, Carrier remains hot offensively, as he is now up to 4 goals in the last 5 games, after only having 1 marker in his first 45 matchups this season.

Brock Faber scored his 11th goal of the season on Tuesday.

10 Pts (3G/7A) in last 8.5 GP
– 20 SOG

On pace for nearly 18 goals this season!

He’s cooking lately 🔥

pic.twitter.com/ioKK1l1mHa

— Beebs Bondy (@Beebsbondy) January 21, 2026

The 2nd period was a little more even between the two teams as they went back and forth for much of the frame. It wasn’t until the midway mark of the period that Brock Faber would tie the game up. Faber would get a pass from Kaprizov and then shoot a weak wrist shot that beat Dobes through a screen. It was a shot that Dobes surely should have stopped as it wasn’t a very hard shot but nonetheless, the Habs netminder was completely fooled by Faber’s wrister.

No need to fear, Lane Hutson is here! 🦸 pic.twitter.com/D1O1f6ZbXs

— NHL (@NHL) January 21, 2026

Luckily for Dobes, the Canadiens would come back 2:19 later and regain the lead once again. It would come off the stick of Lane Hutson, who would one-time a perfect no-look pass from Demidov, who found him from the slot at the right faceoff circle. Hutson would crush the puck past a sliding Wallestadt for his 9th of the season and give the Canadiens a 3-2 lead heading into the 3rd period.

With his second tonight, Vladimir Tarasenko has five goals in his last three games 👏#NHLStats: https://t.co/CDye7njXnp pic.twitter.com/SgOU8oQYk5

— NHL (@NHL) January 21, 2026

During the 3rd period, the Canadiens would get into penalty trouble which resulted in the Wild having a 5-on-3 power play for 45 seconds. As the first penalty expired, Zuccarello would set up Kaprizov for a one-time shot that would get blocked by Guhle, but unfortunately the puck bounced over to Tarasenko, who was able to scoop the puck over a diving Dobes’ glove to tie the game. Just before the goal was scored, Dobes had made big saves to allow the Havs to keep their lead, but it wouldn’t matter as the Wild still got on the board.

COLE CAUFIELD GETS IT DONE WITH 15 SECONDS LEFT ON THE CLOCK ⏰ pic.twitter.com/HKIPqKZtqY

— NHL (@NHL) January 21, 2026

Once the game was tied, the Habs started pushing again to grab their 3rd lead of the night, but Wallstedt managed to keep the game tied until very late in the 3rd period.  With just 15 seconds left, Hutson would feed Nick Suzuki, who would find Caufield just inside the right faceoff circle. With not much time left on the clock, Caufield would one-time Suzuki’s pass past the Wild netminder for his league-leading 7th game-winning goal of the season. Caufield now has 30 game-winning goals in his NHL career. Suzuki also got his 40th assist of the season on the game winner.

Tuesday night was a huge win for the Habs, who not only ended their slump against the Wild but also gained some ground on teams around them in the standings. Of course, the back-to-back and injuries on the Wild helped, but it was still a big victory for the Habs nonetheless.

The Habs are now 28-15-7 on the season after 50 games and are 4 points ahead of the Buffalo Sabres for 3rd in the Atlantic Division. Both teams will play each other for the 2nd time in a week on Thursday, where the Canadiens will be hoping to get revenge on the Sabres for last week’s 5-3 loss. The Habs should also be hungry to widen the gap between these two teams in the division in what will be a very important game for both teams.

What are your thoughts on Tuesday night’s game?