Cole Caufield’s overtime winner completes Canadiens’ two-part comeback against Senators

Every Ottawa lead drew an answer

Ottawa got the first clean moment of the night and took it quickly. William Eklund scored just 1:29 into the first period, with Dylan Cozens collecting the assist, and the Senators had an early 1-0 edge before the game had settled into any real rhythm.

Montreal answered before that opening jolt could shape the evening. Jayden Struble tied it at 4:33 of the first, unassisted, and the quick correction established the pattern that would carry the game: Ottawa could get ahead, but it could not stay there for long.

The Senators repeated the trick late in the second period, when Cozens scored at 19:47 off helpers from Nikolas Matinpalo and Tyler Kleven. That goal mattered because it restored Ottawa’s lead so close to the intermission. But Montreal found one more response in the third. Caufield tied it at 11:59, with Lane Hutson and Jakub Dobes picking up the assists, and once the Canadiens got the game back to level, overtime did not last long. Caufield ended it at 3:19, this time set up by Hutson and Nick Suzuki.

Caufield finished it, Hutson shaped it

When a game turns on repeat names, Montreal had the right ones. Caufield scored twice on four shots and was the one player Ottawa never solved in the moments that mattered most. Hutson assisted on both Caufield goals, leaving his fingerprints all over the comeback even without taking a shot himself.

Struble’s first-period equalizer gave Montreal a contribution from the blue line, and Dobes’ assist on the third-period tying goal added one of the stranger but more memorable touches of the box score. Suzuki also appeared on the winner, which meant Montreal’s deciding plays were not just about one shooter getting hot, but about a few of its most important puck-movers repeatedly showing up in the scoring chain.

Ottawa, to its credit, made enough of its limited offence to threaten a road win. Cozens had a goal and an assist, Eklund struck early, and the Senators turned only 17 shots into two leads. But that thin margin asked too much of the rest of the night. Montreal’s two goaltenders, Dobes and Sam Montembeault, combined to face just those 17 shots, while Ottawa needed a much bigger night in net simply to keep the game close.

Our take: Montreal’s pressure told, but neither side was spotless

Our take: this result makes sense when you step back from the overtime finish. Montreal generated the larger body of work, finishing with a 34-17 edge in recorded shots and earning six power-play chances. The Canadiens converted one of those opportunities; Ottawa went 0-for-4. In a one-goal game that reached overtime, that special-teams gap was not decorative. It was one of the clearest reasons the Canadiens were still pushing from a tie instead of chasing from behind.

There is still something for Montreal to clean up. A team that controls the shot count this clearly would rather not spend the night erasing deficits, and the Canadiens gave Ottawa room by conceding at 1:29 of the first period and again at 19:47 of the second. Their own discipline was not perfect either, with four penalties handing the Senators four power plays. The win softens those issues, but it does not erase them.

For Ottawa, the lesson is harder because the goaltending was good enough to deserve more support. The Senators scored on their first goal of the night and then grabbed the lead again late in the second, yet they finished with only 17 shots and no power-play goals on four opportunities. That is a difficult formula to protect, especially against a team that keeps coming back at you. When Cozens is in on both Ottawa goals, it highlights a productive night for him and a broader need for more offence elsewhere. The Senators were close, but they were also living on too little margin from the start.

Scoring moments

1. 1st · 1:29

   William Eklund Goal (1) , assists: Dylan Cozens (1)

2. 1st · 4:33

   Jayden Struble Goal (1) , assists: none

3. 2nd · 19:47

   Dylan Cozens Goal (1) , assists: Nikolas Matinpalo (1), Tyler Kleven (1)

4. 3rd · 11:59

   Cole Caufield Goal (2) , assists: Lane Hutson (3), Jakub Dobes (1)

5. OT · 3:19

   Cole Caufield Goal (3) , assists: Lane Hutson (4), Nick Suzuki (1)