MONTREAL — Brady Tkachuk scored 38 seconds into overtime to give the visiting Ottawa Senators a 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday night in the second game of a back-to-back for both teams.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored in regulation time for the Senators (10-11-1), who have won four of their past five games. Craig Anderson made 35 saves for his fourth win of the season.
Rookie Nick Suzuki scored the lone goal for the Canadiens (11-6-5). Carey Price stopped 22 shots, a day after conceding five goals in Columbus.
Ottawa defeated the Red Wings 4-3 in Detroit on Tuesday while the Canadiens lost 5-2 at the Blue Jackets.
Tkachuk scored the OT winner five-hole on Price just as the Sens improved to 4-7-1 on the road this season.
The Canadiens were the better team in the first period, outshooting Ottawa 12-3 but neither could find a goal.
Montreal’s 15th-ranked power play got to work in the second period with Nikita Zaitsev in the box for cross-checking.
There was a scramble in front of Anderson and Phillip Danault was first on the puck. The first-line centre passed it back to Suzuki, who easily scored his sixth of the season 44 seconds into the frame.
The Canadiens kept the pressure on Ottawa, firing pucks on Anderson from every angle.
Shots were 21-8 for Montreal when Pageau beat Price at 9:55 of the second by tipping a shot from Tyler Ennis with his back to the net.
Pageau leads the NHL with 10 goals this November. The 27-year-old also has nine goals in 20 career games versus the Canadiens — the most against any opponent.
Ennis, on a breakaway, nearly gave Ottawa a 2-1 lead in the final minute of the second but Price made the blocker save.
The visitors kept coming in the third. Price denied Ennis on a Senators power play early on, moments after Anthony Duclair missed the net from the slot.
Ottawa’s league-worst power play finished 0 for 3.
The Sens were down a forward for most of the game. Winger Vladislav Namestnikov left in the first period after falling awkwardly into the boards on a hit from defenceman Cale Fleury. He did not return.
Notes: Senators forward Bobby Ryan joined the league’s player assistance program, the NHLPA announced Wednesday. … Former Canadiens captain and coach Guy Carbonneau, who was inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame this week, was honoured in a pre-game ceremony.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2019.
Kelsey Patterson, The Canadian Press