Canadiens @ Senators Top Six Minutes: Habs turn late two-goal deficit into OT win

First period

• Drake Batherson puts his stick in Mike Matheson’s feet as the defenceman is speeding out of the zone, and Montreal will test Ottawa’s poor penalty kill early.
• The top line is getting plenty of chances. I see why Ottawa’s penalty kill ranks so low given how passive they’re being here.
• Montreal takes advantage with about the fifth pass through the slot, with this one going to Juraj Slafkovský in the bumper position and he beats Leevi Merilainen over the glove.

Juraj Slafkovsky strikes first and the Habs are up 1-0!

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— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) January 17, 2026 at 8:26 PM

• The Habs aren’t letting up with the lead, going right back to work in Ottawa’s zone.
• They are having trouble actually hitting the net, however. They need a reminder that Merilainen lets in about three goals for every 20 shots he faces. Twelve shot attempts, three actual shots.
• We just saw one of the first cases of Ivan Demidov going one-on-two and getting the puck in for a chance. This one didn’t amount to anything as Brady Tkachuk miraculously whacked at his stick about seven times without contacting his hands, but I look forward to seeing more of that from Demidov over the years.
• Bolduc adjusts his sights just a little, and that’s all he needs to go off the elbow and in. But the zone entry was offside as Jake Evans was a little overeager in his return to the lineup, so neither the goal nor the shot will count. But that should still be a message to Bolduc to shoot more. He got a low of power on that little snapshot.
• The Senators have taken over the momentum since the disallowed goal.
• David Perron wraps his arms around Arber Xhekaj, and the veteran will force Merilainen to face some more power-play shots.
• Nick Suzuki mishandles the puck along the boards, and Ottawa sees a chance at a counter. But Suzuki fights back and gets the puck back deep, and there is only one defender to face a half-zone two-on-one. Cole Caufield keeps the puck, and beats Merilainen five-hole.

Cole Caufield takes advantage of Suzuki's great play, and makes it 2-0 Habs!

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— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) January 17, 2026 at 8:54 PM

• It feels like Montreal has been taking a lot of high-sticking penalties lately. Kaiden Guhle goes to the box for hitting Ridly Greig in the face.
• The Canadiens kill off the final 35 seconds of the period, but the referee makes an absurd call on Josh Anderson who put his stick on top of Dylan Cozens’ to prevent a potential last-second rebound chance, and is called for “tripping” when Cozens falls down. Someone really needs to investigate the group chats of these officials.

Second period

• Jake Evans is right out for the three-on-five penalty kill in his first game back.
• Brady Tkachuk accepts the gift from the officials with the power-play goal.
• Tkachuk knocks down Lane Hutson to try to break free of a check, then cross-checks Kaiden Guhle to the ice aiming to break the defenceman’s coverage. Neither infraction is called.
• Moments later, the Senators have tied the game on a between-the-legs goal from Tim Stützle, and the officiating decisions have evened up the score of this game.
• Anderson doesn’t need the officials to help him get redemption for his terrible penalty call. He sends a soft wrist shot toward the net from just inside the blue line and Merilainen was completely fooled.

A long range wrister from Josh Anderson makes it 3-2 Habs!

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— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) January 17, 2026 at 9:24 PM

• The Canadiens now have three goals on eight shots. They need to shoot more.
• Now what will the refs come up with to put Ottawa back on the power play?
• A hook to the hands of Mike Matheson leads to turnover behind the net and a scoring chance for Ottawa. Samuel Montembeault makes the stop.
• Montreal isn’t helping its own case here with its scrambly defence that is extending every offensive-zone presence for the Senators.
• Noah Dobson takes a stick in the face at centre ice from Nick Cousins, and Montreal will have an opportunity to extend the lead.
• First they have to get into the zone.
• They just got outworked in those two minutes and spent as much time in their own zone as Ottawa’s.
• Cousins grabs Alexandre Carrier’s head and rips his helmet off, and then complains about getting called. He’ll go right back to the box.
• Demidov gets his stick in Stützle’s feet and three strides later Stützle decides to go down. So that’s the end of the power play. At the same time, Montreal shouldn’t be chasing the play on their own man advantages.
• Tkachuk took a jab in the chin from Danault after he took a few whacks at Montembeault with the puck frozen, and crumples to the ice. Fortunately, Tkachuk went right back at Danault and did the same thing, wiping out a five-on-three for his team.
• A one-man advantage was all Ottawa needed to tie the game. Dylan Cozens got the puck alone in the slot and had plenty of time to load up a wrist shot and beat Montembeault.
• Just like in Buffalo, we’re in a 3-3 tie in the second period after each team scored a couple of power-play goals.
• You have to give credit to the Senators for helping out Merilainen by just not letting Montreal get any shots this period. The advantage in the middle 20 is 12-2 Ottawa.
• It looks like Montreal is out of energy again. This will be a fourth loss in five games if they can’t find some.
• Juraj Slafkovský powers past Thomas Chabot and takes a two-handed overhand whack to prevent him from getting a shot. The puck goes the other way, and the Sens get a lucky goal as the puck goes off David Perron in front of the net and trickles over the goal line.
• That concludes a terrible period for Montreal. They may be playing against seven skaters, but they still have no excuse for only getting four shots.

Third period

• The training staff can drag the Habs players to the bus to get them home tonight for a two-day break. Montreal will need to leave every last ounce of energy on the ice to try to claim these two points.
• Oliver Kapanen gets tripped as he tries to keep a cycle going in the offensive zone.
• Montreal finally connects a couple of offensive-zone shifts together and gets some looks, but still just one shot from it.
• Chabot rips Gallagher’s helmet off in front of the net as Montreal is once again working in the offensive zone. This will be a power play.
• The Habs just can’t win a puck battle right now, and it’s clear after clear for Ottawa.
• Dobson fires a shot of Greig’s shin pads just as Chabot is coming out of the box, and it results in a four-on-two. Jake Sanderson gets the shot, and it’s 5-3 Ottawa.
• There’s just no more energy to find. This seventh game in 11 days is obviously too much for the players to deal with.
• Montembeault has been called to the bench with five minutes to play.
• Hutson sifts a shot through traffic, and Slafkovský tips it in for his second goal of the game.

• Suddenly the Habs have a second win with plenty of time to find an equalizer.
• They only needed a minute to get it. Anderson fights through Tkachuk’s check and that allows Montreal to get the puck in the offensive zone. Demidov sets up Alexandre Carrier at the point, and Montreal’s 15th shot of the game ties it 5-5.

• Garry Galley is coaching the Senators on how they should have played that better.
• “Go Habs Go!” is the chant at Canadian Tire Centre.
• Evans touches the puck to get a whistle on a delayed offside, and that leads to a defensive-zone faceoff. Evans redeems himself with the win.
• Suzuki has one last chance on a prone Merilainen, but the goaltender makes his first big save of the game to preserve a point for his team.

Overtime

• I can’t believe the Canadiens claimed a point, but here we are with a chance for them to claim two.
• Hutson has two shots at the winner, but Merilainen makes both saves.
• The Senators can’t connect on a two-on-one as Stützle completely whiffs on the shot. That leads to one for Montreal the other way. Caufield has the puck, and winds up a huge slapshot that goes through Merilainen for the game-winner.

MR SATURDAY NIGHT COLE CAUFIELD

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— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) January 17, 2026 at 11:00 PM

• That’s a huge win that the Canadiens just claimed, turning zero points into two. That should help everyone rest a little better over the next two days before they welcome the Minnesota Wild to the Bell Centre.

EOTP 3 Stars

3) The Senators will need that to distract the fans next season

2) It’s not even subtle

1) Please tell us you all stayed to the end