COLE CAUFIELD gave the Montreal Canadiens another preseason overtime finish to savor Monday, scoring twice in a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators at Colisee Videotron in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec.
Caufield ended the Kraft Hockeyville game 3:19 into overtime, two nights after his goal with 38 seconds remaining in the extra period lifted Montreal past the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 in a split-squad exhibition at Bell Centre. His power-play goal in the third period had already pulled the Canadiens even.
Ottawa opened its preseason schedule in its first game since the June 22 trade that sent captain Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers. Dylan Cozens recorded a goal and an assist, William Eklund scored, and Samuel Ersson stopped 34 shots in what could be an important audition behind projected No. 1 goaltender Linus Ullmark.
The Senators struck 1:29 into the opening period when Cozens set up Eklund. The 23-year-old Eklund arrived in Ottawa from the San Jose Sharks on June 23, while Ersson joined the Senators on June 26, 10 days after Toronto acquired him from the Philadelphia Flyers.
Montreal answered at 4:43 of the first. The Canadiens moved the puck from behind Ottawa’s net and found defenseman Jayden Struble unattended in the left circle. Struble snapped a wrist shot high past Ersson to make it 1-1.
Cozens restored the Ottawa lead with 13 seconds left in the second period. After winning a draw in the left circle, he watched Jakub Dobes turn aside Nikolas Matinpalo’s point shot, then worked to the front of the crease and pushed the rebound past the Montreal goalie despite pressure from Juraj Slafkovsky.
The Canadiens got their equalizer at 11:59 of the third on the power play. Caufield completed a give-and-go with Lane Hutson for the 2-2 goal, then settled the game in overtime.
Samuel Montembeault made seven saves before Dobes took over and stopped 11 for Montreal, which received 18 saves from its goaltending tandem. The Canadiens will carry another late-game win into the next stretch of preseason play, while Ottawa moves on after a competitive opening look for several of its new faces.
