Caufield scores 2nd goal in OT, Canadiens rally past Senators at Hockeyville

TROIS-RIVIERES, Quebec -- The tenor inside Colisee Videotron had the feel of Bell Centre, what with the near red-out of Montreal Canadiens sweaters and Michel Lacroix, the public address voice of 33 years, calling out players, penalties, the last minute of each period and, of course, goals.

None were bigger than Cole Caufield's second goal at 3:19 of overtime that gave the Canadiens a 3-2 preseason victory against the Ottawa Senators on Monday, the culmination of the celebration of Saint-Boniface, Quebec, winning Kraft Hockeyville.

2026-27 NHL Preseason stats

It was an ending similar to two nights earlier, when Caufield scored with 38 seconds left in overtime to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 at the aforementioned Bell Centre. On that night, a small community nearly two hours away had enjoyed the rewards of a push to win $250,000 to upgrade Arena de Saint-Boniface.

Fast-forward back to Monday, and a partisan crowd was treated to another reward, this one their own entertaining game which capped a marathon day that began with players on each team walking the red carpet to greet a near-overflow gathering of fans.

"To be able to come here and put on a show for these fans that don't always get to be in the Bell Centre, it's the least we could do," Caufield said. "They were very loud and it was very exciting to be here.

"Getting off the bus this morning and seeing all those fans, it could have made their whole year."

Jayden Struble also scored for the Canadiens, and Sam Montembeault (seven) and Jakub Dobes (11) combined to make 18 saves.

William Eklund scored, and Dylan Cozens had a goal and an assist for the Senators. Samuel Ersson made 33 saves, including 11 in the third that gave them a chance in overtime.

Eklund and Ersson made their debuts for Ottawa after each was acquired in a trade with the San Jose Sharks (June 23) and Maple Leafs (June 26), respectively.

"There's things to build on," Ersson said. "I mean, it's preseason. It's a lot about us getting a good feel for the game, get some game time, reads and all that takes a little time for that to come back, so I think it's definitely some good things that I take with me and try to build on here."

Before the puck dropped, though, five members of the local organizing committee lined up behind one another in the tunnel leading past the penalty boxes to center ice. They were dressed in blue hockey jerseys with white trim and the No. 19 for the recognized year that Kraft and the NHL have teamed to donate to the winning community for arena renovations. One by one they patted each other on the shoulders like they were about to play a Stanley Cup Playoff game.

Minutes before, the group of five stood with a group of 40 kids aged 5-12 from Ecole primaire Sainte-Marie singing "O Canada." Amanda McKay and Lara Hukezalie, who is from Elliot Lake, the 2024 winner of Kraft Hockeyville, then completed the ceremonial passing of the trophy to Jean-Sebastien Descoteaux, Natacha Pioltte, Alexandre Gadoury, Junior Tifo and David Michel.

The moment had finally arrived and was worth its weight in sterling silver and nickel alloy.

"There is no value we can put on that," said Descoteaux, who was put in charge of communications in the weeks leading up to Hockeyville. "It was really, really high to see the kids signing the national anthem and to see the crowd cheering when we entered the ice. A good moment. Worth it."

Eklund quickly opened the scoring on a feed from Cozens to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 1:29 of the first period.

Struble tied it 1-1 at 4:43. After the Canadiens worked the puck from behind the Senators net, the Montreal defenseman was left alone in the left face-off circle for a wrist shot that beat Ersson.

Cozens gave the Senators a 2-1 lead at 19:48 of the second after winning a face-off in the left circle. Dobes batted away Nikolas Matinpalo's shot from the point, but Cozens found his way in front of the net and fought off Juraj Slafkovsky to put the puck above Dobes' left shoulder.

However, Caufield tied it 2-2 on a give-and-go with Lane Hutson on the power play at 11:59 of the third before winning the game on his overtime goal.

After the game, there was the obvious question of what comes next for Saint-Boniface.

"We have a bunch of volunteers in the hockey organization that will have the equipment and the facility to help the kids for the next generations," Descoteaux said.

Even though it was a whirlwind week, Descoteaux learned a lot about his community and himself, but he couldn't quite find the words. You can't blame him. The town spokesperson had to catch his breath from giving interviews and countless hours of his own time to welcome Hockeyville, a personal journey he'll do again in a second for the greater good.

"We're going to have plenty of time to figure it out, but it was a hell of an experience to manage that project, to be with the Kraft team, the NHL team, to speak with the journalists," he said. "This is not what we usually do, so it's pretty special and we'll remember it for the rest of our lives." 

LNH.com senior writers J-F Chaumont and Guillaume Lepage contributed to this report