Ottawa Senators win 2-1 in OT over Montreal Canadiens to shoot-up into second - NHL Update
A brave stand by Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price was not able to get his mediocre team through the line as the Habs lost 2-1 in overtime to Ottawa Senators at the Scotiabank Place.
The win brings the Senators into the top two of the Eastern Conference after spending most of the second half of the regular season on the verge of dropping out of the playoff spots.
With 84-points, the Senators have topped the Northeast division and if they maintain their position will get home ice advantage throughout the upcoming playoffs.
The Canadiens on the other hand were once again poor on the road and only goaltender Carey Price’s heroics kept them in the game throughout regulation.
The goaltender saved 31 shots during the game and kept out Ottawa for most of the game.
However, he could not stop Filip Kuba’s overtime winner as Montreal had to settle for just a single point.
The loss keeps the Canadiens near the bottom of the Eastern Conference with 68-points as they lie 14th in the conference standings.
Senators coach Paul MacLean praised his players’ hard work to get up to second.
"It means a lot of hard work by all those guys across the hallway. They've worked real hard and they've believed in themselves for a long time now and I think the consistency of their effort on a daily basis is being rewarded with the success the team is
having. But, we've got 10 games left to play and we have lots of work to do."
Montreal coach Randy Cunneyworth was disappointed in his team’s lack of conversion on power plays.
Talking to reporters after the game he said.
"Obviously, that's what you're disappointed in -- We have to play a lot smarter in certain situations.
"We iced a lot of pucks, but we also made a lot of moves that put us on our heels."
The Canadiens took the lead in the first period.
At 8:18 Tomas Plekanec scored against the run of play after rushing into the Senators zone and unleashing a shot that caught Ottawa goaltender Ben Bishop off guard.
The short-handed goal was the only one scored in the first two periods.
Ottawa dominated the second period as they pummelled Price’s goal with shot after shot but were unable to break through. The Senators outshot the visitors 12-3.
The Senators continued that domination in the final period outshooting the Canadiens 10-3 and finally managed to put the puck past price at 6:27 with Colin Greening scoring the equaliser.
They were unable to score the winner in regulation though and the game went to overtime. Kuba stepped up in the third minute of overtime to score the winner and send Ottawa into second.
The Canadiens will look to bounce back from another defeat on Saturday, when they face New York Islanders at home ice while the Senators welcome fierce opponents Toronto Maple Leafs.
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