Ottawa Senators fell 3-2 in overtime to the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night, a preseason result that still stings a little with Opening Night closing in.
Overtime Heartbreak in Trois-Rivieres
The game was played at Colisee Videotron in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, in front of more than 4,000 fans at the venue, also referred to as Centre Videotron. Cole Caufield settled it for Montreal, scoring his second goal of the night at 3:19 of overtime, assisted by Nick Suzuki and Lane Hutson. It was a tough way for Ottawa to end a game the Senators had led twice.
How the Game Unfolded
Ottawa struck first. William Eklund opened the scoring just 1:29 into the first period, finishing off a feed from Dylan Cozens to put the Senators up 1-0. Montreal answered a few minutes later when Jayden Struble scored an unassisted goal at 4:33 of the first, tying the game at 1-1.
The Senators regained the lead late in the second period. Cozens won a face-off in the left circle and buried the puck himself at 19:48 of the second, giving Ottawa a 2-1 edge heading into the third.
Ersson Stands Tall in Goal
While the result didn't go Ottawa's way, goaltender Samuel Ersson had a strong night between the pipes, making 33 saves as the Senators tries to lock down the backup role behind Linus Ullmark. Ersson signed a two-year, $4.4 million deal with Ottawa in July after a difficult season in Philadelphia, and performances like Monday's are exactly what the club is hoping to see more of as the preseason winds down.
What It Means for Opening Night
Preseason results don't count in the standings, but the way Ottawa played does. The Senators traded goals with a divisional rival for 60-plus minutes and pushed the game to overtime on the road, a decent sign with the regular season just around the corner.
Earlier This Month
Monday's loss follows a busy stretch of training camp news for Ottawa. Physical play has been a theme at camp, with players and head coach Travis Green pointing to hard, hitting-heavy sessions as part of building the team's identity, as detailed in ottown's earlier report. Ersson's performance also continues a storyline ottown has been following since camp opened, when the club's bet on his bounce-back season was outlined in ottown's earlier report.
Sources: Ottawa Citizen, NHL.com, NHL.com (Canadiens)
