Canadiens rally with 2 goals late in 3rd, defeat Senators in OT

OTTAWA -- Cole Caufield scored 33 seconds into overtime, and the Montreal Canadiens rallied from a two-goal deficit late in the third period to defeat the Ottawa Senators 6-5 at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.

Caufield kept the puck on a 2-on-1 with Nick Suzuki and scored on a slap shot from the right face-off circle to the far side. It was his second goal of the game.

“I don’t know if I’d do that again,” Caufield said. “But yeah, I mean, 2-on-1, just find a way to get it on net. And luckily, it somehow got past.”

Montreal had tied it with two goals in 1:05. Juraj Slafkovsky cut it to 5-4 at 15:36 of the third with his second of the game, deflecting a Lane Hutson point shot with Canadiens goalie Sam Montembeault pulled for the extra attacker, before Alexandre Carrier’s one-timer from the top of the right circle tied it 5-5 at 16:41.

“We’ve been in this situation maybe too many times this year,” Caufield said. “But we know we can fall back on our details and being resilient and just finding a way.”

Caufield added an assist, Hutson had three assists, and Josh Anderson had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens (27-15-7), who had lost two straight. Suzuki had two assists, and Montembeault made 29 saves.

“There’s definitely plays and situations we want back, but that’s hockey,” said Suzuki, the Montreal captain. “I think as a team we rebound really well, and we’ve shown that, and tonight was kind of showing that, you know, we can climb out of any hole.

“It’s a huge win against them. Our division is so tight right now, those are much needed.”

Jake Sanderson had a goal and three assists, and Tim Stutzle had a goal and an assist for the Senators (22-19-6), who had won two in a row.

“Very frustrating,” Sanderson said. “We played a great 56 minutes but you’ve got to play 60 to win, especially against that team with the high offense and the ability to come back in a game.”

Leevi Merilainen made 13 saves in his 10th consecutive start.

“Our team can hang their head, or they can be mad,” Ottawa coach Travis Green said. “I’d rather us be mad. We played a hell of a hockey game tonight, and that happens. I’ve said it a lot, but it does happen, and we’ve got to move on.”

Slafkovsky gave the Canadiens a 1–0 lead on the power play at 3:06 of the first period. Playing the puck behind the net, Suzuki fed Caufield, who quickly slid it to Slafkovsky in the left circle for a one-timer to the glove side.

Montreal’s Zachary Bolduc had a goal overturned at 11:30 after Ottawa challenged for offside, but Caufield made it 2-0 at 17:50 with the Canadiens back on the power play. After Suzuki won a puck battle against Claude Giroux near the left boards, he fed Caufield, who moved into the left circle and beat Merilainen with a wrist shot through the five-hole.

Brady Tkachuk scored the first of Ottawa’s four second-period goals, cutting it to 2-1 at 42 seconds during a 5-on-3 power play. Giroux got to the rebound of Sanderson’s shot in front of the net and passed to Tkachuk for a wrist shot in the left circle.

“I think they were executing at a much higher level, especially in the second period,” Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. “They caught us out there for a long time. I think fatigue builds up.”

Stutzle tied it 2-2 at 3:07 of the second, skating along the goal line down the left side and lifting a shot between his legs that went inside the near post.

“I don’t even know what to say,” Stutzle said. “Didn’t give them a whole lot. Felt like we played a really good game, and if you score five, you should be able to win.”

Anderson regained the lead for Montreal, making it 3-2 at 4:26. He scored from the left point with a wrist shot through traffic.

Dylan Cozens then tied it 3-3 at 15:31, scoring with a wrist shot from the top of the slot off Stutzle’s pass out of the left corner.

David Perron gave the Senators their first lead of the game at 4-3 when he tipped Artem Zub’s low point shot at 18:24.

Sanderson pushed it to 5-3 by scoring on the rush at 7:55 of the third.

“I think we’re [a] pretty honest group,” St. Louis said. “I think it helps us progress when you move forward, when you’re honest with the actual play, not the results. So I think we’re going to process that with some truth.”

NOTES: Caufield extended his Montreal record for overtime goals (12). … The Canadiens have six third-period comeback wins this season and scored their seventh game-tying goal in the final five minutes of regulation. … Hutson (49 games) became the second Montreal defenseman to reach the 50-point mark prior to his 50th game of a season, joining Larry Robinson (42 games in 1985-86; 44 games in 1976-77). Hutson has eight goals and 42 assists. … It was Sanderson’s second career four-point game. Erik Karlsson (four) is the only other defenseman in Senators history with as many.