3 players who stood out in Canadiens 3-2 overtime preseason win against Ottawa

While wins may not be important in the preseason, it still makes it more enjoyable when the Montreal Canadiens come away with the win. After winning both games against the Maple Leafs, the Canadiens won another overtime thriller with a final score of 3-2 over the Ottawa Senators at Hockeyville.

The Canadiens were behind most of the game as William Eklund scored just a minute and a half into the game to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead. Jayden Struble answered to tie it up about three minutes later as the scoring slowed down from there.

Dylan Cozens would give Ottawa the lead in the second before Cole Caufield tied it up in the third to send it to overtime. It was Caufield once again in overtime to give Montreal the lead for the first time in this game and the win.

These are three players in particular who stood out with their performance in helping the Canadiens secure the win on Monday night.

Cole Caufield

Mr. Saturday Night made an appearance on Monday night as Caufield had two goals against the Senators. The first was in the third period on a power play off the rush with Lane Hutson to tie the game up.

In overtime, it was more of the same as Hutson set up Caufield for the game-winning goal, which looked very much like the overtime goal he had against the Maple Leafs. This is now three goals in two games for Caufield, and if he plays like this, he easily will reach 50 goals again this season and could even push closer to 60.

Florian Xhekaj

The Montreal Canadiens are going to have a tough decision ahead of the regular season because Florian Xhekaj is making it clear with his play that he does not want to go back to Laval. On Monday night, Xhekaj did all the little things that helped the Canadiens be successful.

A perfect example of this was on Jayden Struble's goal that doesn't happen without the hustle and forecheck from Xhekaj.

This performance comes after an impressive preseason game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, where Xhekaj showed physicality and hustle, which the Canadiens desperately need for their fourth line. It will be interesting to see how the team navigates this, but the focus should be on who gets moved because Florian has already earned his spot.

David Reinbacher

Another young player who had an impressive game was David Reinbacher, who was paired with Lane Hutson for this game. It was a pairing that fans have wanted to see for a while, and Reinbacher delivered with his performance.

After the game, Lane Hutson was asked what it was like playing with Reinbacher and was very complimentary of the former first-round pick. "He looked good, was easy to read off of, and killed a lot of plays. I thought he played great."

The Canadiens have a chance to shuffle some of their defensive pairs in the third preseason game and into the regular season. It would make sense for them to give these two some extended ice time to see if they can build on this strong performance.

The Canadiens don't have another preseason game until Saturday when it once again will be a split squad with one team playing in Ottawa against the Senators and another remaining in Montreal. The lineups and pairings for these games are going to be very interesting and could provide some clarity into what the coaching staff is thinking going into the season.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow