Bruins vs Red Wings

OTTAWA -- Facing elimination, the Ottawa Senators are turning again to goaltender Craig Anderson for Game 4 of their Eastern Conference First Round series against the Montreal Canadiens at Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; USA, CBC, TVA Sports).

Senators coach Dave Cameron said he chose Anderson rather than Andrew Hammond, who started the first two games of the series, because of Anderson's experience.

Anderson started Game 3 and made 47 saves in a 2-1 overtime loss.

"He has a proven playoff record of being a real good goalie," Cameron said.

OTTAWA -- There could be a scenario in the Eastern Conference First Round series between the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens when a top defenseman knocked an opposing player out of the series with a big body check.

It probably wouldn't have been thought to be 6-foot, 180-pound Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson as the one who has delivered the biggest hit of the series.

Karlsson hit Canadiens defenseman Nathan Beaulieu in the second period of Game 3 on Sunday when he caught Beaulieu accepting a pass inside the Montreal blue line and stepped into him. The Canadiens said Tuesday that Beaulieu will be out for the duration of the best-of-7 series with an upper-body injury.

"That open-ice hit was perfect, a textbook body check. It gets the momentum going for your team," Senators forward Curtis Lazar said.

Senators defenseman Cody Ceci said, "I've seen him make a couple of big hits before, but that was probably one of the biggest. It definitely got us going. That's kind of out of his element. He stepped up and made a big hit like that."

OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Senators can draw inspiration from a number of places as they try to become the third team in six years, and the fifth in NHL history, to come back from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series.

The Senators, who face elimination Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference First Round series at Canadian Tire Centre (7 p.m. ET; USA, CBC, TVA Sports), can begin that search in their own backyard.

On Feb. 10, Ottawa was 14 points out of a postseason position, meaning it practically had to win out over the last two months of the regular season to make the playoffs. The Senators went 23-4-4 and earned the first wild card.

"The games when our backs were against the wall and we had to win, we won. You can take that as a positive," Senators forward Clarke MacArthur said Monday.

The Montreal Canadiens are resting, relaxing and reloading to deliver what they hope will be a final knockout blow against the Ottawa Senators in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference First Round on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; USA, CBC, TVA Sports).

The Canadiens headed north of Ottawa to the resort destination of Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, after taking a 3-0 lead Sunday with a 2-1 overtime win against the Senators at Canadian Tire Centre.

Montreal won the first two games at Bell Centre and will look to open the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a four-game sweep for a second year in a row with a win in Ottawa in Game 4.

Center Torrey Mitchell was making the most of the Canadiens' day off Monday.

"Yeah, it is really good, especially all three games have been pretty physical and rest is a weapon right now," said Mitchell, who scored Montreal's first goal in a 4-3 win in Game 1 and assisted on each of right wing Dale Weise's goals Sunday.

BROSSARD, Quebec -- Devante Smith-Pelly insists he is not worried about making Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin look good for the trade that brought him from the Anaheim Ducks for forward Jiri Sekac.

Sekac had become a popular player in Montreal but wasn't able to carve out a consistent role under coach Michel Therrien. The Ducks felt they needed his speed up front, perhaps to play alongside Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry on the top line, and the Canadiens wanted the size and physical game Smith-Pelly brings.

It was a trade of promising 22-year-old forwards born four days apart that appeared to have no losers, except many in Montreal criticized it anyway, especially after Smith-Pelly was scratched by Therrien for games on March 28 and 30.

But Smith-Pelly has provided everything Bergevin hoped for in the first two games of the Canadiens' Eastern Conference First Round series against the Ottawa Senators.

Subban has consistently shown, ever since his rookie season, that when the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin he becomes a difference-maker.

But the type of difference Subban nearly made for the Canadiens in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference First Round series against the Ottawa Senators is not what people are used to seeing from him.

Subban was ejected from the game on Wednesday and given a major penalty for slashing Senators forward Mark Stone on the wrist at 8:23 of the second period. The Canadiens won the game 4-3 without their best defenseman, and Subban became the focal point of the series, as he usually does.

The pressure was on him to perform Friday in Game 2, a situation he’s always thrived in.

MONTREAL -- Ottawa Senators forward Mark Stone earned the respect of his teammates in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round series against the Montreal Canadiens on Friday.

The 22-year-old rookie had two assists in a 3-2 overtime loss while playing with a microfracture and ligament damage in his right wrist after he was slashed by Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban in Game 1 on Wednesday.

Stone had the primary assist when Clarke MacArthur scored to give the Senators a 1-0 lead in the first period and on Patrick Wiercioch's game-tying power-play goal with 6:35 left in the third period.

"[Stone's] a character guy for us," MacArthur said. "He's going to battle through it and do what he has to do. That's all you can ask of a teammate. For him to step in there as a young guy, it's gritty of him. Hats off to him.

MONTREAL -- Forwards Mark Stone of the Ottawa Senators and Max Pacioretty of the Montreal Canadiens will play in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round series at Bell Centre on Friday.

Stone sustained a microfracture and ligament damage in his right wrist, according to the Senators, in Game 1. He was slashed by Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban.

Stone had 47 points in the last 46 games of the regular season to help the Senators reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Pacioretty, who led the Canadiens in goals (37) and points (67), missed the last two games of the regular season and Game 1 of the series with an upper-body injury.

Montreal won Game 1 of the best-of-7 series 4-3.

MONTREAL -- Ottawa Senators forward Mark Stone's status for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference First Round series against the Montreal Canadiens (7 p.m. ET; CBC, CNBC, TVA Sports) will be determined at game time, coach Dave Cameron said Friday.

"It's like every other player," Cameron said. "As long as it's not detrimental to his health that's the first thing you ask and you go from there."

Stone participated in Ottawa's optional morning skate Friday. He worked on his stickhandling and shot pucks before taking part in a light shooting drill and leaving for the dressing room about six minutes after he jumped on the ice.