The Canadiens killed two birds with one stone Saturday night. Split into two squads for a preseason doubleheader against the Maple Leafs, Montreal sent one lineup to Toronto and kept another at home — and both of them won. In Toronto, Phillip Danault scored twice in a 4-1 win. Back home, Cole Caufield did what Cole Caufield does, burying the overtime winner off a Lane Hutson feed to finish off a 4-3 comeback. Two games, two different rosters, two wins over the Leafs in one night.

Toronto: Danault and a Third-Period Surge Get It Done, 4-1

Toronto dressed seven new faces against Montreal’s road squad and still had most of its top players in the lineup, but it wasn’t enough. The game was scoreless through one, then Danault opened it in the second, out-waiting Bobrovsky on a shift where he simply held onto the puck longer than the Leafs’ penalty kill wanted him to before beating him far side for a 1-0 lead. Toronto answered on the power play later in the period — new Leafs defenseman Raddysh scoring off feeds from Matthews and Nylander to make it 1-1 through 40 minutes.

Montreal put the game away with three third-period goals. A point shot from Struzer, his first as a member of the organization, restored the lead at 2-1. Danault added an empty-net goal for his second of the night, and Sam Poulin scored his first of the preseason in the final minute to make it 4-1 final. Montreal outshot Toronto 29-25 and went 0-for-3 on the power play; the Leafs were 1-for-6.

Highlights: @CanadiensMTL on X

Montreal: Caufield’s OT Winner Completes a Comeback, 4-3

The home squad, with most of Montreal’s top young players in the lineup, could not have asked for a better start. Just two minutes in, Juraj Slafkovský and Ivan Demidov scored twice on a 5-on-3 power play to make it 2-0, and Montreal carried a 13-3 shot advantage into the first intermission. Toronto had other ideas. The Leafs scored three straight — two of them on the power play, from Rybinsky and Sisson — before Johnstone beat Jacob Fowler late in the second to put Toronto up 3-2 heading into the third.

Hutson tied it early in the third with a wrist shot he got under the glove — his first goal of the preseason — and the two teams went to overtime. Caufield settled it at 4:22 of the extra frame, finishing a 2-on-0 off a return pass from Hutson for his own first goal of the preseason. It was Hutson’s third point of the night.

Highlights: @CanadiensMTL on X

Coach’s Take

1. Ivan Demidov was the best player on the ice, in either building, tonight. He scored on the power play and could have had two or three more — he rang one off the post and drew a highlight save from the Leafs’ goalie on another. Fastest player on the ice and the most dominant, full stop.

2. Slafkovský looked like the Slafkovský from last season. He put up 30 goals and 73 points a year ago and had real chemistry with Demidov and Kapanen down the stretch — that chemistry with Demidov was right there again tonight. He protected pucks, drove play, and if either of those two finishes on one more of their looks, this could’ve been a two- or three-goal night apiece.

3. Hutson does Hutson things. Three points, nothing flashy about any of them — a heavy wrist shot to tie the game, then a give-and-go with Caufield to win it. He’s the X-factor on this team. He doesn’t dominate a game because he’s doing something in every single shift of it. Third year in the league and he looked stronger and faster than I’ve seen him. That’s a great sign for Habs fans.

4. Danault scored twice in Toronto. The veteran, traded to Montreal last December, had a strong second half and playoff run with the Canadiens — and it picked up right where it left off tonight. His experience and patience got him the first goal past Bobrovsky, and he was excellent defensively too, matched up against Tavares and Matthews most of the night while still finding time to play well with Josh Anderson and Florian Xhekaj.

5. Samuel Montembeault was perfect — 13 saves on 13 shots. Monty has a real case to make for the backup job behind Dobeš, and stopping everything he saw in his first appearance of the preseason is a strong opening argument. One game doesn’t define a preseason, and he’ll need to do it again, but it was good to see him bounce back with a clean sheet.

6. Florian Xhekaj and David Reinbacher both did well. Two young players trying to win a job by the end of camp, and both had solid nights. Xhekaj picked up a point and a fight, and threw four hits — exactly the identity he needs to show to make a case for a roster spot. Reinbacher had a strong overall game, won his share of puck battles, finished at +1 in 22 minutes with three hits, and was steady on the penalty kill.

7. Luke Mittelstadt played a strong first preseason game. Mittelstadt joined the Rocket last season after four years at Minnesota and made a good first impression with the big club tonight, picking up an assist on Slafkovský’s tip-in to open the scoring. He logged 19 minutes, finished at +1, and used his skating to move pucks all night — didn’t look nervous out there at all.

Two wins, two different lineups, and a long list of players who made their case tonight — that’s about as good a night as a split-squad game can go. Both squads are back in one building Monday night at Trois-Rivières to face the Ottawa Senators at 7 p.m. ET, and we’ll have the play-by-play live on the Hockey Nation Live Show YouTube channel.