The Canadiens kept rolling through the preseason on Monday night, outlasting Ottawa 3-2 in overtime at Hockeyville and giving themselves another reason to feel good after a pair of wins over the Maple Leafs.
Montreal spent most of the night playing from behind. William Eklund opened the scoring just 1:30 into the game to put Ottawa ahead 1-0, and Jayden Struble answered roughly three minutes later to square things up.
From there, the goals dried up until the second period, when Dylan Cozens pushed Ottawa back in front. Montreal didn’t blink.
Cole Caufield tied it in the third, then finished the job in overtime to hand the Canadiens their first lead of the game and the victory.
Cole Caufield was the obvious headliner. Mr.
Saturday Night showed up again, and this time he did it with two goals. His first came on the power play in the third period, finishing a rush with Lane Hutson to pull Montreal even.
Then, in overtime, Hutson fed him again for the winner, a goal that looked a lot like the one he scored against Toronto. Caufield now has three goals in two games, and if this stretch is any indication, he’s putting himself on a path that could get him back to 50 goals and maybe even closer to 60.
Florian Xhekaj also kept making life difficult for the Canadiens’ coaching staff in the best possible way. He didn’t score, but he was all over the little things that help win hockey games.
His hustle and forecheck directly helped set up Struble’s goal, and that kind of effort is becoming hard to ignore. Coming off another strong preseason outing against Toronto, where he brought physicality and energy, Xhekaj is making a real case that he belongs with the Canadiens rather than heading back to Laval.
David Reinbacher rounded out the list of standouts, and he did it while skating alongside Lane Hutson. It’s a pairing plenty of fans wanted to see, and Reinbacher held up his end of the bargain.
Hutson was asked after the game about playing with him and didn’t hold back: "He looked good, was easy to read off of, and killed a lot of plays. I thought he played great."
Montreal still has room to tinker with its defense, and these next preseason games could tell a lot about how the staff wants to line things up. The Canadiens don’t play again until Saturday, when they’ll split the squad again, with one group in Ottawa and another in Montreal. Those lineups and pairings should offer a better read on where things stand heading toward the season.
In Other News...
Canadiens Trade Tree Looks Even Better After Latest Ex-Defenseman Twist
The Canadiens trade history has taken on a little extra shine thanks to a familiar name resurfacing in an unfamiliar place. William Lagesson, the defense-first defenseman who spent a brief stretch in Montreal, has bounced around the NHL since then, and his latest stop with the Detroit Red Wings has put him back on waivers.
For Canadiens fans, the bigger picture is what makes this interesting. Lagesson was part of the March 2022 deal with Edmonton that eventually helped set up Montreals path to Lane Hutson, a prospect whose long-term value already gives that transaction a very different look. It is the kind of chain reaction that makes a trade tree feel alive, especially when one of the old pieces is suddenly back in the news. [Read more 🡒]
Florian Xhekaj Is Making The Canadiens' Next Cut Much Harder
Florian Xhekaj has done what a young player is supposed to do in camp: make the decision more difficult than expected. The 2026 Canadiens camp has offered signs of real progress from Xhekaj, and the coaching staff has taken notice, with the forward looking more confident and more polished as he pushes for a longer stay.
Still, the math is working against him right now. Montreal already has a crowded forward group, and unless something changes, there simply is not a clean opening for Xhekaj to begin the season in the NHL. If that remains the case, the next stop could be Laval with the Rocket, where he would keep building toward another shot when the opportunity finally comes. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Prospect Now Faces An Early Development Concern
A quiet stretch of uncertainty around Gleb Pugachyov finally got a little clearer this week, as the young Canadiens forward said he is dealing with a concussion and is being monitored by the clubs medical staff. The injury came in his only game of the season, ending any momentum he might have been trying to build and leaving Montreal to wait for a better sense of how long his recovery might take.
For a prospect already drawing scrutiny, the timing is less than ideal. Pugachyov has recently added significant weight and has faced criticism about both his fitness and his engagement on the ice, so every update around his development now carries a little more weight of its own. The Canadiens will likely be patient, but this kind of early setback only adds another layer to the questions surrounding where he goes from here. [Read more 🡒]