MTL@OTT: Burned in the second

OTTAWA - The Canadiens were in prime position to pick up a win on Saturday night, but things didn't turn out that way.

Max Domi, Phillip Danault and Ottawa native Paul Byron scored during the first period, as Claude Julien's troops headed to the locker room with a 3-1 advantage.
The momentum shifted during the middle frame, however.
Mistakes proved costly, and Mikkel Boedker and Matt Duchene capitalized for the Senators to tie things up.
In the end, overtime went Ottawa's way.
So, where did things go wrong and what made the real difference in the nation's capital?
"Without a doubt it was second period," affirmed Julien. "I thought we got away from our game plan. We committed turnovers in the neutral zone and we weren't moving the puck quickly enough. We started out the way we wanted to in the first period. In the third, we tried to adjust, but they gained a lot of confidence after the second and it was tough for us to come back. We have to look at ourselves in the mirror and I hope that we learned a lesson."

In the locker room, the players shared similar thoughts.
According to Brendan Gallagher, the Canadiens put themselves in a tough spot at the Canadian Tire Centre.
"One of the things we've been doing well this year is we haven't hurt ourselves and we played smart. Tonight, that wasn't the case. We got a two-goal lead and for whatever reason we kind of stopped using our brains and made some silly hockey decisions. Pucks ended up in the back of our net. We didn't get the two points because of it, so we've got to learn from it and move on. But, we're definitely disappointed," said Gallagher, who was held without a point on Saturday night for the first time in three games.
"I just didn't think we played a smart enough hockey game. Especially when you're playing on the road, you have to be smart, you have to make them earn everything - especially when you're able to get a 2-0 lead. We had a good first period, and then for whatever reason we kind of made some silly plays. That's what hurt us," he added.

For his part, Paul Byron believed the Canadiens lacked energy at times during the contest.
"We played a good first period, but we didn't play good hockey after that. We made a lot of mental mistakes and we have to be better if we want to win games. Everyone is tired, but we have to find a way to win, especially when it comes to games like that," explained Byron, who registered the 24th multi-point game of his career on Saturday night.
Second spot will have to wait for Price
Following the loss in Ottawa, Carey Price remains one win shy of tying Patrick Roy for second spot on the Canadiens' all-time wins list among goaltenders.
The six-time All-Star mentioned that attempting to reach this latest milestone wasn't a source of distraction.
"Honestly, I didn't even think about it during the game," explained Price. "I thought about it before the game, but after that I was only focused on the game itself."