OTTAWA – Goaltender Craig Anderson made 25 saves and defenseman Erik Karlsson scored his first goal in 15 games to help lead the Ottawa Senators past the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday.
The loss ended the Canadiens' (27-13-3) six-game road winning streak.
The Senators (18-17-8) won for just the second time in six games (2-3-1).
Mika Zibanejad, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who also had an assist, and Erik Condra also scored for the Senators. Milan Michalek had two assists.
Max Pacioretty scored his 21st goal for Montreal.
Canadiens goaltender Dustin Tokarski, making his eighth start of the season (4-3-1), made 31 saves. The Canadiens were playing back-to-back games and Montreal coach Michel Therrien opted to rest No. 1 goaltender Carey Price.
With the Senators up 3-1 after two periods, Anderson made a good save on Montreal's Brendan Gallagher, who broke behind Ottawa defenseman Jared Cowen in the first minute of the third period.
Anderson got his right toe on Gallagher's shot.
Karlsson scored his first goal since Dec. 7 at 2:16 of the second period. He took a pass in the slot from Michalek and his shot beat Tokarski over the right shoulder to give the Senators a 3-1 lead.
It was also Karlsson's first goal since Dave Cameron took over as the Senators coach Dec. 8.
The rest of the second period was a steady stream of penalties. There were five minor penalties called over the last 14 minutes of the period, four of them to the Senators, but the Canadiens couldn't take advantage.
The Canadiens' power play unit ended a 0-for-16 streak Wednesday, scoring each goal on the man advantage in a 3-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets. It created some chances against the Senators, but Anderson was sharp. His best stop came on the Canadiens' first power play of the period when he moved to his right to block a shot by Montreal defenseman Nathan Beaulieu from the left wing circle.
The Senators needed just 69 seconds to score the first goal of the game and continue the Canadiens trend of falling behind in the first period.
Zibanejad scored his 10th goal when he was allowed to pounce on a rebound off a shot by Mike Hoffman that bounced off Tokarski's left pad.
The Canadiens have given up the first goal in 25 of their 44 games.
The Canadiens tied it 1-1 at 14:35 of the first period when a couple of lucky bounces saw a long pass by Gallagher find Pacioretty behind Cowen at the Senators blue line.
Pacioretty skated in and with Cowen reaching around him to try and block the shot, let go a shot that beat Anderson between the pads and left the Senators goaltender staring at the ceiling.
The Senators took a 2-1 lead at 16:26 on another rebound goal. This time Pageau worked his way free to put a loose puck behind Tokarsi.
The Canadiens have been outscored 33-17 in the first period this season.
The Senators play the Carolina Hurricanes at Canadian Tire Centre, and the Canadiens will play the New York Islanders at Bell Centre to start a three-game homestand on Saturday.
Entertainment Plaza - TV, Movies, Sports, Music, Soaps
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99
Babe Of The Month - Vote Now!
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99/babeofthemonth.html
Hunk Of The Month - Vote Now!
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99/babeofthemonthman.html
No comments:
Post a Comment