Habs get balanced effort to take down Senators
Published
OTTAWA - Brendan Gallagher recorded his fifth multi-point game of the season with a goal and assist to help power the Montreal Canadiens past the Ottawa Senators 5-2 on Saturday.
Cole Caufield, Patrick Laine, Josh Anderson and Juraj Slafkovsky also scored for the Canadiens (26-26-5), who had 11 players with at least one point, including Nick Suzuki who had two assists.
Sam Montembeault got the start for the Canadiens off his Four Nations Faceoff experience and made 25 saves for his 19th win of the season.
Tim Stutzle extended his point streak to nine games with a goal and an assist in a losing effort for the Senators (29-24-4). Jake Sanderson had the other goal.
Linus Ullmark started in goal for Ottawa but was pulled at 11:32 of the second period after allowing five goals on 15 shots. He was replaced by Anton Forsberg who mopped up stopping all 10 shots he faced.
The Canadiens snapped a three-game losing streak and extended the Senators' losing skid to four games.
TAKEAWAYS
Senators: Goaltending is a concern as Linus Ullmark was unable to get through the second period allowing five goals. The Senators have allowed five goals in each of their last three games and 19 goals overall in their past four.
Canadiens: A true team effort has 11 players collect points and Montembeault was solid in goal.
KEY MOMENT
After blowing a 2-0 first period lead the Canadiens went on a power play and scored 19 seconds after Stutzle had tied the game 2-2 for the Senators. Stutzle scored at 15:54, Cole Reinhardt took a holding penalty at 16:09 and Patrick Laine scored at 16:13 to put the Canadiens back on top 3-2.
KEY STAT
Saturday was the second of four meetings between the teams this season, and the Canadiens won the first two games by a combined 9-3 score. As a result of their win Saturday, the Canadiens are just five points behind the Senators for the final wild-card berth.
UP NEXT
Canadiens: Host the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.
Senators: Host the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 22, 2025.