Cole Caufield praises Nick Suzuki's OT goal celebration following Canadiens wild-card chase

Nick Suzuki led the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-2 overtime win against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday. He scored two goals, including the game-winner, keeping Montreal in the wild-card race.

Suzuki tied the game 2-2 with nine seconds left in the third period. He pounced on a loose puck and scored with a backhand shot. Then, just 29 seconds into overtime, he wrapped around the net and scored again.

After the game, Cole Caufield praised Suzuki’s celebration. NHL insider Priyanta Emrith shared his comments on X:

“To see our captain, our guy, our leader do that for us and show his excitement, it goes a long way in the room. He's been playing really well as of late, so it's really well-deserved.”

Suzuki has been a key player for Montreal. He has 10 goals and 27 points in his last 18 games. Josh Anderson also scored, and Lane Hutson had three assists for the Canadiens. Sam Montembeault made 25 saves in the win.

Montreal is now two points ahead of Columbus for the last wild-card spot. Columbus has one game in hand. Suzuki’s leadership and clutch play continue to push the Canadiens forward.

Nick Suzuki has 25 goals and 54 assists this season. He leads the Canadiens with 79 points. Cole Caufield has 34 goals and 30 assists, ranking second on the team. The Canadiens have 35 wins, 30 losses, and 9 overtime losses, and they are fifth in the Atlantic Division.

Nick Suzuki talked about the crowd's support in OT win against Panthers

Speaking to the media after the game, Nick Suzuki talked about the importance of supportive fans in the arena.

“The crowd really kept us going there, especially in the third,” Suzuki said, via NHL.com, “We weren’t generating a lot of chances, but the wave gets going, the guys get fired up and it really pushed us to the end there. It’s so much fun playing here, especially in games like this.”

Josh Anderson gave Montreal a 1-0 lead at 4:43 of the first period. He deflected Kaiden Guhle’s shot past Vitek Vanecek. Florida tied it at 10:37 when Niko Mikkola’s shot deflected off Jake Evans’ stick and went in.

The Panthers took a 2-1 lead at 18:47 of the second period. Mackie Samoskevich scored on a power play when his shot bounced off Guhle, straight into the net. Following this, Nick Suzuki controlled the game, earning two crucial points for the Canadiens.