Demidov breaks tie in 3rd, Canadiens rally past Senators for 3rd straight win
Batherson put Ottawa ahead 2-1 with his second goal at 18:41. Claude Giroux knocked down Alexandre Carrier‘s clearing attempt along the left boards and passed to Batherson as he powered to the net. The puck came loose and Stutzle’s shot at the right post hit Batherson’s stick before going in.
“We know it was a big game,” Stutzle said. “Did we play our best? Probably not. Should we have got a point? Probably. So tough one there, gotta move on.”
Texier tied it 2-2 at 17:29 of the second period with a wraparound at the right post that went in off the right pad of Ullmark. He was in the lineup in place of Cole Caufield, who did not play after leaving Tuesday’s 3-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs because of an illness.
“It’s obviously a four-point game,” Batherson said. “We’re trying to chase them right now, but we weren’t going to win every game from here on out. Definitely would have liked to beat those guys, but that’s the way it goes.”
Ottawa coach Travis Green said: “We don’t get to pick and choose the ones that we win. We’re gonna lose another game before the end of the year, too. So we don’t sit there and say we have to beat Montreal, and we can afford to lose against Calgary. We played a real good game tonight, coming off a long road trip, and we just gotta worry about ourselves.”
The Senators outshot the Canadiens 13-5 in the third period, but Fowler made multiple saves in the final moments of the game to preserve the one-goal lead.
“It was pretty hectic,” Fowler said. “A couple plays there that our guys on the ice were pretty gassed, and a lot of huge blocks there down the stretch, the last few minutes there. A lot of guys doing a lot of hard things there to get a win, and that’s what it takes this time of year.”
Newhook said, “We know what he’s capable of. Some of those saves he made late in the game there, it’s a big reason why we won the game tonight.”
NOTES: Slafkovsky (164) passed Henri Richard (163) for the most points in franchise history by a player before age 22. … Demidov became the NHL’s second rookie to reach the 50-point mark this season, joining Beckett Sennecke (51). … Montreal’s nine-game winning streak against Canadian teams marked the third-longest in franchise history behind Oct. 21, 1972 – March 21, 1973 (11-0-0) and Dec. 29, 1987 – March 16, 1988 (10-0-0). … Tkachuk extended his point streak to eight games (three goals, five assists)
