Dobson, Slafkovsky and Danault turn Canadiens’ early deficit into 4-2 win over Senators

Ottawa had it twice, then lost the script

The Senators did enough in the opening 20 minutes to feel good about the shape of the game. Philip Tomasino opened the scoring at 11:54 of the first, Chris Kreider answered for Montreal at 13:31, and Tyler Boucher restored Ottawa’s lead at 19:19. That should have sent the visitors into intermission with momentum. Instead, the lead lasted only 88 seconds of game time.

Dobson erased it at 0:47 of the second period with a slap shot set up by Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield, and that quick equalizer changed the night. Montreal no longer had to chase from behind, and Ottawa no longer had the comfort of protecting a one-goal edge. In a game that ended with only six goals, that early second-period response mattered as much as any sequence that followed.

What stands out in the numbers is how thin the margin really was. Ottawa finished with a 30-26 edge in shots and a 12-3 advantage in blocked shots, so this was not a runaway in territorial terms. But Montreal was better in the moments that tend to decide close NHL games. The Canadiens won 56.1 per cent of the faceoffs, and they kept finding the next important goal after each swing.

Montreal’s difference-makers arrived in waves

The most influential Canadien was Slafkovsky, who touched three of Montreal’s four goals. After helping Dobson tie the game early in the second, he put Montreal ahead for good at 6:13 of the third on a snap shot with Dobson and Phillip Danault drawing the assists. Danault then added insurance at 12:56, with Slafkovsky and Mike Matheson on the play. That sequence — Slafkovsky setting the tone, Dobson pushing from the blue line, Danault finishing the next chance — gave Montreal a clear attacking spine when the game tightened.

Dobson’s night deserves its own line. A defenceman can change a game without piling up volume, and that is what happened here. He tied it less than a minute into the second, assisted on the winner, finished plus-2, and led Montreal in ice time at 24:03. Matheson was close behind at 23:51 and chipped in two assists of his own, so Montreal’s back end did more than survive Ottawa’s pressure. It helped author the comeback.

The supporting cast mattered too. Kreider’s first-period equalizer kept Ottawa from stretching its early control, while Nick Suzuki and Caufield added assists to a night in which Montreal got goals from four different scorers. That balance is a useful sign for the Canadiens. They did not need one line to carry everything. They got a push from their stars, steady work from their defence, and enough finish at the right time.

Our take: an encouraging rally with a clear caution attached

Montreal deserves credit for the way it handled the middle of the game. Falling behind twice in the first period could have led to a scrappy, impatient night. Instead, the Canadiens answered quickly, then built the result in order: tie it early in the second, take the lead in the third, add a second third-period goal before Ottawa could recover. That is the outline of a composed win, even if it was not a spotless one.

The warning sign is discipline. Ottawa’s two goals came while the Senators were credited with going 2-for-4 on the power play, and Montreal took seven penalties for 17 minutes. A team can survive that once when it scores on its lone power-play chance and gets the game back to even almost immediately after the intermission. It is a less comfortable formula over time. If there is one obvious area for the Canadiens to clean up from this result, it is the amount of shorthanded work they handed Ottawa.

For the Senators, the frustration is straightforward. There was enough attack to make this competitive: 30 shots, two first-period goals, and a power play that produced. But once Boucher scored late in the first, Ottawa did not find another finish over the final 40:41. The faceoff deficit hurt, and 15 giveaways did not leave much room for error in a one-goal game that turned into a two-goal loss. Samuel Ersson’s .846 save percentage also left Ottawa needing more resistance than it got. The Senators were dangerous in stretches, but Montreal was cleaner where the game was actually decided.

Scoring moments

1. 1st · 11:54

   Philip Tomasino Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Christian Kyrou (2), Kasper Halttunen (1)

2. 1st · 13:31

   Chris Kreider Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Nick Suzuki (2), Mike Matheson (2)

3. 1st · 19:19

   Tyler Boucher Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Xavier Bourgault (1), Ryan Suzuki (1)

4. 2nd · 0:47

   Noah Dobson Goal (1) Slap Shot, assists: Juraj Slafkovský (1), Cole Caufield (1)

5. 3rd · 6:13

   Juraj Slafkovský Goal (2) Snap Shot, assists: Noah Dobson (1), Phillip Danault (1)

6. 3rd · 12:56

   Phillip Danault Goal (3) Snap Shot, assists: Juraj Slafkovský (2), Mike Matheson (3)