Players from the Edmonton Eskimos celebrate after defeating the Montreal Alouettes in a CFL football game in MontrealGraham Hughes/The Canadian Press
Grant Shaw kicked a last-second field goal as the Edmonton Eskimos posted a 15-12 comeback victory over the Montreal Alouettes in a defensive CFL battle Thursday night.
Shaw, who had missed three earlier attempts, was good from 28 yards. Edmonton (5-2), which blew a 13-point lead last week at B.C., came back from a 12-0 deficit to beat Montreal (2-5).
Kenny Stafford caught a touchdown pass for the Eskimos while linebacker Kyler Elsworth had the only major for Montreal on a fumble return. The Alouettes have lost three in a row.
Edmonton pulled starter Matt Nichols midway through the third quarter in favour of James Franklin but both struggled to put up points. Montreal's Rakeem Cato stayed in the game despite being sacked eight times and had difficulty with Edmonton's league-best defence.
There wasn't a lot of excitement for 21,170 fans at Percival Molson Stadium looking for attacking football.
A subplot was an off-season trade that sent long-time Eskimos receiver Fred Stamps to Montreal for Stafford, who looked to get the better of the veteran Stamps in this encounter.
The Alouettes led 12-7 at halftime despite generating only 87 yards of net offence thanks to four Edmonton turnovers.
Chip Cox picked off a Nichols pass on the Eskimos first possession, setting up a 25 yard Boris Bede boot 3:25 into the game.
On Edmonton's next drive, Wallace Miles fumbled after a catch and Elsworth ran it back 40 yards for a touchdown at 4:47.
Cato's 53 yard toss to Alex Charette set up a 38 yard Bede field goal to open the second quarter for a 12-0 lead.
Edmonton finally struck back with a five-play drive capped by Nichol's three-yard TD pass to Stafford with 39 seconds left in the half.
Cauchy Muamba sacked Cato in the end zone for a safety 2:36 into the third quarter.
Shaw missed a 46 yard field goal attempt in the second quarter, his first miss in 16 attempts this season. It ended a streak of 21 straight that started at the end of last season. He fell one short of the team record set in 2001 by Sean Fleming.
Shaw also missed a 32 yard attempt in the third quarter and a 42 yarder in the fourth that both went for singles. Then he tied the game with a 54 yard punt single with 5:11 left to play when third string quarterback Jordan Lynch tackled Stefan Logan in the end zone.
Each team had a running back returning after missing a game, Edmonton's Shakir Bell and Montreal's Tyrell Sutton.
The Eskimos were missing top receiver Adarius Bowman to a hip problem. Montreal coach Tom Higgins surprisingly opted to sit out two veterans, defensive end John Bowman and defensive back Jerald Brown. Als rush end Michael Sam, who made his CFL debut last week, was out with a sore back.