Canadiens 6, Senators 5 (OT): Ottawa Collapses Late as Montreal Steals Rivalry Thriller
The Ottawa Senators had this one in the bag-until they didn’t.
Up by two goals with under three minutes to play, the Senators watched their lead vanish in a flash before falling 6-5 in overtime to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night at Canadian Tire Centre. It was a gut-punch loss in every sense, especially considering the stakes and the opponent.
Let’s start with the finish. Cole Caufield delivered the dagger just 33 seconds into the extra frame, capping off a stunning Habs comeback that saw Juraj Slavkovsky and Alexandre Carrier tie the game in a 65-second span late in the third. The Senators, who had clawed their way into a 5-3 lead earlier in the period, were left stunned.
And so was their locker room.
“I think Leevi made some good saves. But I think, at the end of the day, you’ve got to make more than 10 saves to win a game,” said defenseman Jake Sanderson, who had a monster night with four points but didn’t hold back postgame.
That comment was directed at Leevi Merilainen, who’s been riding a rough stretch this season and started his 10th straight game in net. The 21-year-old netminder had his moments, but he couldn’t come up with the big stops when it mattered most. And in a game where momentum swung like a pendulum, those missed saves proved costly.
Still, Merilainen wasn’t left to wear the loss alone. Captain Brady Tkachuk came to his defense, emphasizing that the collapse wasn’t on one player.
“It’s easy to criticize, but it’s not about an individual in this sport,” Tkachuk said. “It’s about the whole team, and we gotta do a better job helping him.
He’s going to have an amazing long career ahead of him. He’s an unbelievable goalie and an unbelievable person.”
The Senators had built their lead behind an offensive outburst. Sanderson, David Perron, Tim Stützle, Tkachuk, and Dylan Cozens all found the back of the net.
Sanderson’s goal-a laser from the point at 7:36 of the third-looked like it might be the insurance they needed to close the door. Instead, it became a footnote in a game that unraveled quickly.
Ottawa had taken a 4-3 lead into the third after a strong second period. Cozens tied it up with a power-play goal at 15:31, and Perron gave them the lead with just 1:36 left in the frame. At that point, the Senators looked like a team ready to take care of business in a must-win stretch.
The loss stings even more given where the Senators sit in the standings. They’re chasing the Boston Bruins for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, and with just 36 games left, the margin for error is razor-thin.
To have a shot at returning to the postseason, Ottawa needs to play at better than a .600 clip the rest of the way. That’s a tall task-and nights like this don’t help.
Saturday’s game was the first half of a back-to-back, with a trip to Detroit looming Sunday. It’s expected that veteran James Reimer will make his Senators debut in that one, giving Merilainen a much-needed breather. Reimer was signed last Monday, and Ottawa will be looking to him for some stability in net as they try to stay in the playoff hunt.
Before the puck dropped, Tkachuk called it a “massive game,” and he wasn’t wrong. The rivalry, the standings, the timing-it all added up.
And for most of the night, the Senators looked like a team that understood the moment. But hockey is a 60-minute game, and Ottawa only played about 57 of them.
Now, they’ll need to regroup quickly. The road ahead doesn’t get any easier, and if this team wants to be playing meaningful hockey in April, they can’t afford many more nights like this.