NHL Thursday Betting Recap: Oh Canada!

Rookie Cole Caufield tied the game with 8.7 seconds left in regulation. Caufield then scored at 2:22 of overtime to give Montreal its first victory since a 5-3 win at Dallas on Jan. 18. The last home win came on Dec. 12 in a shootout against Philadelphia.

Caufield entered February with one goal in 29 games but, perhaps aided by the appointment of Hockey Hall of Famer Martin St. Louis as the interim coach in Montreal, Caufield is starting to heat up with four goals in his last four games, including two on Thursday.

Le but égalisateur!

The equalizer!#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/rCNdsH7XGL

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) February 18, 2022

Pavel Buchnevich scored with 1:19 left to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead before Caufield sent the game into overtime.

Seven forwards had two points, including NHL scoring leaders Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, as the Edmonton Oilers rolled past the visiting Anaheim Ducks 7-3 to improve to 4-0 since Jay Woodcroft took over as coach following the firing of Dave Tippett. The Oilers are now alone in third place in the Pacific Division standings. However, fifth-leading scorer Jesse Puljujarvi left the game with a lower-body injury and is considered day-to-day.

Evander Kane had his second consecutive two-point night and he has four goals and four assists in nine games since joining Edmonton, which has jumped up to +2500 in the odds to win the Stanley Cup.

Sonny Milano and Trevor Zegras each had a goal and an assist for Anaheim, which was outshot 41-30.

Auston Matthews had his 33rd goal, tying him for second in the NHL with Chris Kreider of the New York Rangers, and added an assist as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1.

Jack Campbell made 45 saves as Toronto won despite being outshot 46-29. Evgeni Malkin had the only goal for Pittsburgh. The game went under the 6½-goal total set by the Las Vegas odds.

The Winnipeg Jets overcame an early two-goal deficit for a 5-3 win over the visiting Seattle Kraken. Josh Morrissey broke a 3-3 tie with 6:10 to play and Kyle Connor added his 28th goal with one second left to play.

Vince Dunn and Marcus Johansson scored to give Seattle the early 2-0 lead.

The wildest game of the night came when the visiting Vancouver Canucks topped the San Jose Sharks 5-4 in overtime.

Vancouver came into the game with a .500 mark on the road but appeared ready to register the regulation victory before San Jose’s Alexander Barabanov scored with one second left in the third period to force overtime. It was his first goal in 11 games. He also had an assist for his first multiple-point game since Dece. 28. Brock Boeser’s goal gave him 13 in the 20 games that Vancouver has won. He has only two goals in the 24 losses.

Zach Sanford and Austin Watson scored to lead the visiting Ottawa Senators to a 3-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres. It was Watson’s first goal in 19 games while Brady Tkachuk added an insurance goal with 17 seconds remaining. Anton Forsberg improved to 10-8-1 by stopping 23 of 24 shots.

The race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference is getting a bit closer as the Boston Bruins lost for the second game in a row after scoring first. The New York Islanders received a goal and an assist each from Mathew Barzal and Noah Dobson en route to the 4-1 win.

Barzal was selected one pick after the Bruins made three consecutive first-round selections in the 2015 NHL Draft, with only winger Jake DeBrusk currently with the Bruins. Barzal never misses the chance to show the Bruins what might have been as he has six goals and 10 assists in 18 regular-season games against Boston.

Taylor Hall’s 11th goal gave Boston the 1-0 lead. Captain Patrice Bergeron returned after missing three games after suffering a head injury.

The Detroit Red Wings pulled within six points of Boston with a 3-2 shootout win over the New York Rangers, who have the sixth-best points percentage at home.

Troy Stecher scored his first goal of the season while Dylan Larkin netted his 26th goal, six shy of his career best, as Detroit twice led by a goal. Mika Zibanejad tied the game at 11:51 of the third period. Zibanejad has 11 goals and 12 assists in 17 games since Jan. 1.

Detroit’s win carried a moneyline of +170, with the game going to overtime paying out +400.

Garnet Hathaway scored twice in the final three minutes as the visiting Washington Capitals rallied for a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Gerry Mayhew, who came into the season with two goals in 17 career games, scored twice to give Philadelphia a one-goal lead late in the third period.

Philadelphia’s Scott Laughton and Trevor van Riemsdyk got into a fight at 7:37 of the second period, with van Riemsdyk getting an additional 10-minute penalty for being the instigator. The fight carried a moneyline of +300.

Something to consider for those who bet online: It was the third time in the last four games that a game involving the Flyers had at least eight goals scored.

Seth Jones’ return to Columbus was not a successful one as the host Columbus Blue Jackets rolled to the 7-4 win over Jones and the Chicago Blackhawks. It was the seventh time in the last eight games that a Columbus matchup went over the total.

Patrik Laine scored three times, giving him 10 goals and six assists in his last eight games. Jones had an assist but also a defensive rating of -2 for the team with which he played from 2015-16 to 2020-21. Philipp Kurashev had a goal and an assist while Alex DeBrincat delivered his 29th goal to pull Chicago within a goal in the third period.