Cole Caufield scores two of Montreal’s goals, including the winner in overtime, after Ottawa blows a two-goal lead with less than five minutes remaining in regulation.
Thirty years — at least in the NHL — hasn’t changed much between a storied franchise and one that underachieves, constantly finding ways to inevitably come up short.
There with you then. Here with you now. As a critical part of the community for over 245 years,The Gazette continues to deliver trusted English-language news and coverage on issues that matter. Subscribe now to receive:
There with you then. Here with you now. As a critical part of the community for over 245 years,The Gazette continues to deliver trusted English-language news and coverage on issues that matter. Subscribe now to receive:
There with you then. Here with you now. As a critical part of the community for over 245 years,The Gazette continues to deliver trusted English-language news and coverage on issues that matter. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
On Jan. 17, 1996, the Ottawa Senators christened what was then known as The Palladium — a hockey rink located in Kanata, Ont., which, back then, was in the middle of nowhere — with a 3-0 loss to the Canadiens. History will note Andrei Kovalenko, the Russian Tank, scored the first goal in the barn’s history, while Jocelyn Thibault stopped 26 shots for the shutout. It was the Senators’ eighth consecutive defeat, giving them an 8-34-1 record.
Thirty years later, the same two teams met Saturday night at what’s now known as the Canadian Tire Centre. Ottawa was feeling bullish following two straight wins against Vancouver and the New York Rangers — two lousy teams. The Senators should have won a third consecutive game, but somehow managed to blow a two-goal lead with less than five minutes remaining in regulation time.
And, just like that, what was appearing to be a horrid three-game road trip for the Canadiens turned out being copacetic following this dramatic 6-5 overtime victory. Just when you think this team has hit the wall.
News you need (Part I):Cole Caufield scored two of Montreal’s goals, including the winner. He has now scored 21 times on Saturday night since 2024-25. Of course, the Canadiens play most Saturday nights.
News you need (Part II):Lane Hutson contributed three assists. His first was the 101st of his career. In the process, he passed Henri Richard for the most assists by a player age 21 or younger in franchise history. The kid might have a future in this game.
News you need (Part III): Had the Senators not imploded, it would have been their first multi-goal comeback win against the Canadiens since Oct. 20, 2018.
Sieve of the night: Ottawa’s goaltending situation is so bad, after Linus Ullmark took a personal leave in late December, the team this week signed veteran James Reimer, 37. Leevi Merilainen, started his 10th consecutive game against Montreal. Merilainen has been in the AHL for portions of the last four seasons and, quite frankly, that’s where he belongs. This was his 34th career NHL game with Ottawa. He was beaten on the second, sixth, eighth, 14th, 15th and 19th shots he faced. His save percentage — if you can believe it — was .684.
Next time, stay out of the box: Ottawa took two minor penalties in the first period — and the Canadiens scored on both power plays, taking a 2-0 lead despite only six shots. The Senators, who entered the night with the NHL’s 30th ranked penalty-killing unit, have now allowed seven power-play goals in their last five games.
It’s a puck, not a hand grenade: The Canadiens produced only 19 shots, including four in the second period. Against a competent netminder, they never would have scored six goals. This team’s reluctance to shoot, at times, combined with its squandered leads, is starting to become habit-forming.
News you need (Part IV): The wonderful Juraj Slafkovsky also scored twice for Montreal and now has 19 goals. He produced 18 last season. His career high of 20 came in 2023-24.
Great moments in officiating: In the first period, someone on the Ottawa bench grabbed Jake Evans’s stick out of his hands. No penalty was assessed. When did this move become legal? Evans returned after missing 13 games following his knee-on-knee collision with Pittsburgh’s Justin Brazeau.
He can’t catch a break: It’s now 12 games without a goal for Zachary Bolduc. He thought he had one in the first period, but it was determined Evans was offside on the play following an Ottawa challenge.
Move of the night: That was a pretty deft deke between his legs by Tim Stutzle on Ottawa’s second goal.
Momentum … schmomentum: Only 1:19 later, Josh Anderson scored.
Who me?: The look on the face of Dylan Cozens was priceless after he wrestled Alexandre Carrier, removed his helmet, and was amazed he was penalized for roughing in the second period.
We’ve seen this before on the Decarie Expressway: Shane Pinto tripped Michael Amadio — his teammate — who skated into Samuel Montembeault and upended him.
We’ve seen this movie before: The Canadiens were outscored 4-1 in the second period, which has become their Bermuda Triangle. That increased their goals deficit in the second period to 64-51.
They didn’t all go in: Montembeault stopped a Pinto breakaway in the third period with Ottawa leading 5-3. It might have been the save of the night in retrospect.
Faceoff of the night:Phillip Danault beat Claude Giroux before Slafkovsky scored, narrowing the deficit to 5-4.
Doh: After Stutzle couldn’t convert a two-on-one break with Giroux in overtime — whiffing on the attempt — Caufield came down the ice and scored his 12th career overtime goal. Them’s the breaks.
Quick stats: Caufield and Nick Suzuki each had three shots. Joe Veleno had five hits — one more than Slafkovsky. Bolduc, Brendan Gallagher and Kaiden Guhle each had three hits. Mike Matheson blocked five shots, one more than Carrier. Hutson played 26:22. Arber Xhekaj played only 7:40. Montembeault’s save percentage was .853, although he faced 34 shots. The Canadiens won 53.3 per cent of their faceoffs while outhitting Ottawa 28-26.
They said it: “I don’t think we were cheating the game,” head coach Martin St. Louis told the media in Ottawa. “They were executing at a much higher level, especially in the second period. They caught us out there for a long time. Fatigue builds up. Momentum shifts. We took some penalties. There was a lot that went into it. Our power play wasn’t good in the second. There’s games like that.”
“We’ve been in this situation too many times this year,” Caufield said. “We know we can fall back on our details, being resilient and finding a way. We had to win a period there and somehow we found a way. This was a pretty special comeback win for us that we can definitely look back on going forward.”
“We showed that we can climb out of any hole,” Suzuki said. “It’s a huge win against them. Our division is so tight now. Staying positive is a huge motivator and aspect for us. We have a lot of belief in the guys in the room to score those big goals in big moments.”
“You’d be happy about the result, but being satisfied and thinking we can win doing that — it’s not going to happen often,” Evans said. “We’re playing to become a top team and make it far in the playoffs.”
hzurkowsky@postmedia.com
365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4
© 2026 Montreal Gazette, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited.
This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Hockey News