MTL@OTT: Game recap

KANATA – A back-and-forth affair ended in favor of the Ottawa Senators, who knocked off the Canadiens 5-4 via a shootout at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.

Mike Matheson opened the scoring on a shorthanded breakaway in the first period and with it, became the ninth defenseman in franchise history to tally two shorthanded goals in the same season.

Cole Caufield took charge in the middle frame, netting a pair of goals to give Montreal a 3-2 lead at the intermission. The 23-year-old set a new career high for goals in a season with his 27^th on the power play at 13:05 of the second period.

Alex Newhook put Montreal ahead with under five minutes remaining in Saturday’s game, but Ottawa tied it late to force extra time. Overtime solved nothing, so a shootout was required, where Drake Batherson scored the game-winner for the Senators.

Cayden Primeau did all he could in the Canadiens’ crease, stopping 40 of the shots 44 that came his way.

For more stats, check out the NHL’s Gamecenter summary here.

Roster

Montreal goals 

P1 09:11 [1]-0 Matheson (Unassisted) – SHG

P2 01:37 [2]-1 Caufield (Struble, Savard)

P2 13:05 [3]-2 Caufield (Matheson, Newhook) – PPG

P3 15:49 [4]-3 Newhook (Gallagher, Savard)

Ottawa goals

P1 13:08 1-[1] Tkachuk (Sanderson, Giroux) – PPG

P2 08:36 2-[2] Pinto (Giroux, Tkachuk) – PPG

P3 00:47 3-[3] Tkachuk (Batherson, Sanderson ) – PPG

P3 18:55 4-[4] Chabot (Batherson, Sanderson)

Shootout

Jesse Ylönen, Caufield and Nick Suzuki were stopped by Joonas Korpisalo.

Batherson capitalized for the Sens. Tkachuk and Claude Giroux were denied by Primeau.

What’s next

The Habs will open the front end of their home-and-home against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Monday. Then, on Tuesday, the Original Six opponents will meet once more at the Bell Centre to close out the 2023-24 season. Both games are scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET.