Don’t call it a comeback. Call it what it was… and, although the Montreal Canadiens did miraculously come back from two goals down in the last five minutes to beat the Ottawa Senators 6-5 on Saturday, “near-disaster” seems more fitting than “miracle.”
Caufield Helps Prevent Full-Fledged Disaster
Obviously, for Canadiens fans, the outcome amplified the exhilaration level. What had been torture to watch became euphoria as Cole Caufield scored his second of the game in overtime to send the Senators searching for answers as to how something like this could happen. The answer is simple: The Sens, at 22-19-6 and in last place in the Atlantic Division, are not an especially good team.
Sure, the Senators have good players. However, they’re clearly struggling to ice a cohesive unit consistently. Whether that lack of consistency has to do with recent rumours, which aren’t worth getting into in any kind of specificity (but can be referenced in an official capacity thanks to a statement conveniently released by general manager Steve Staios) or not, it doesn’t matter.
Tim Stützle since @EricEngels says you can't win with him.
— SensCentral (@SensCentral) December 22, 2025
10 games
6 goals
9 assists
15 points
+4
30 shots on goal
15 hits
62.6 CF%
65.4 xG%
21:05 TOI/G
…all while having an oiSV% of 0.873. Oh, and he's been an elite PK guy too.
Is that good? https://t.co/QrlHxPpsYo
True, there will always be games like Saturday’s from the Senators’ perspective. Every team experiences them every once in a while. Those are easy enough to move past. However, context is important. They have now lost five of their seven. While they had gotten back on the right track following a four-game losing streak last week to win two straight this one, albeit against the lowly Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers, Saturday’s game against the Canadiens, alongside today’s against the Detroit Red Wings, were also must-wins.
They were against two rival Atlantic Division teams after all. Remember that.
Canadiens Need to Look in Mirror
Now seven points out, if the Senators have any hope of climbing back into a playoff spot, these are the games they need to win. And, despite dominating the projected-to-make-the-postseason Canadiens for most of the night, they choked when the game was on the line. While the Habs deserve credit for, yes, “coming back,” they need to similarly look in the mirror.
They too may have good players. For example, yesterday’s win doesn’t happen without Caufield or the two goals from Juraj Slafkovsky, including the one that triggered the start of the comeback at 15:36 of the third period. Defenseman Lane Hutson assisted on both that goal and both of Caufield’s, passing Henri Richard for the most assists by a Canadiens player 21 or younger… and becoming the second Habs defenseman to reach the 50-point mark in the 50th game of the season, after Larry Robinson. Those are two Hockey Hall of Famers, in case that wasn’t clear, and Hutson now has eight goals and 42 assists for 50 points in 49 games, a month before he turns 22.
Related: Canadiens’ Lane Hutson Reaches 100 Career Assists
So, yeah, the Canadiens have a lot of things to be happy about, but this game shouldn’t be one of them, not when, just like with the Senators, games like this are becoming more frequent. In a game they should have dominated instead, looking at the standings, they got outshot 34-19 and gave up two separate leads, including a two-goal one within the first few minutes of the dreaded second period.
For those not in the know, the second period is the Canadiens’ worst of the season. They’ve now been outscored by 13 in the middle frame (51-64) after losing Saturday’s second 4-1. However, this is one instance when they can’t blame the second (although there really isn’t a single occasion where they should).
They can’t blame the referees, despite a Zachary Bolduc goal having been called back, which would have made it 3-0 instead of 2-0 to end the first and maybe would have helped put the final nail in the Senators’ coffin, before the Canadiens let them back into it. The Habs did that, no one else. And, yes, it was offside. And, yes, the Habs had five power-play opportunities to the Senators’ three.
They also shouldn’t blame Sam Montembeault despite the five goals, despite the fact he’s struggled significantly this season. The Canadiens, as a team, hung him out to dry. As a team, they played badly and arguably deserved to lose. They also can’t blame it on being a road game, when we’re talking about Ottawa, where the Habs jerseys in the stands outnumbered Senators shirts.
They can’t blame two games in two nights like some broadcasters may have after they gave up another two-goal lead against the Washington Capitals a few nights ago. They were relatively well-rested for this one or at least they should have been.
They can’t blame simply losing to a team above them in the standings like they did when they got shut out by the Red Wings last Saturday at home. And they can’t blame running into one of the hottest teams in the league, when they lost to the Buffalo Sabres last game. For those keeping track, that’s three losses in their five games, and, had the Canadiens lost like they probably should have against the Senators, it would have been four… and, most significantly, three against division rivals.
Canadiens Face Critical Part of 2025-26 Schedule
These are games in which the Canadiens are missing opportunities to move up the standings, similar to early in December. However, these specific games obviously mean more, and the best-case scenario is that the Habs are only failing to show up for them. The worst case is they’re failing to show up, period.
Overall, the Canadiens are 9-6-1 against Atlantic teams this season, which is okay. However, that amounts to a .593 points percentage (compared to their overall .622). The division-leading Tampa Bay Lightning are 6-3-1 (.650). The second-place Red Wings are 8-4-2 (.642). The wild-card Sabres are an impressive 8-3-2 (.692). Everyone else, including the Senators (5-5-4) are .500 or worse.
However, if the Senators beat the Canadiens in regulation yesterday night, all of a sudden they own the superior inter-divisional points percentage instead. Games like these may happen to everyone every so often, from the Sens’ perspective, but, from the Habs’, one game can make that much of a difference, and, with three more coming up against Atlantic teams in the next two weeks, before the league shuts down for the Olympics, they simply put need to play better than they have been.
Full disclosure: The idea for this piece originated before the Canadiens orchestrated their comeback victory on Saturday night. They were playing horribly, objectively speaking, and a trend had clearly been developing in the recent past. Their recent record may not look so bad now, but, with a loss, they would have been in a clear slump. Now, it’s admittedly not as clear.
Two options presented themselves once the Canadiens worked their way back into the win column: Either write about something else or not write about anything at all (and sleep in). However, there isn’t a logical reason why they should be let off the hook for what was a lacklustre performance.
For all the euphoria Canadiens fans must have felt last night after the game, you almost (almost) hope they had lost instead, because that would have made for a much more effective wake-up call. Some may say the good teams find ways to win. Maybe. However, the not-so-good teams find ways to lose. That’s the Senators. It was almost the Habs last night too.