Montreal Canadiens: Three Stars vs Ottawa Senators

Montreal Canadiens games heading into last night have left little reason for optimism. They had lost five in a row, including two to the Senators who were back in town for another contest with the Habs.

It would be the fifth meeting of the season thus far, with the Canadiens only coming out on top in one of their first four contests. Combine that with the fact the Habs were just 3-5-0 in their first eight home games and it didn’t give fans a great feeling heading into last night.

Early in the first period when Joel Armia took a double minor penalty for high sticking, fans were pretty much accepting a one goal deficit.

However, they were able to kill off both sides of the double minor penalty without giving up a goal. Carey Price made a few solid saves to keep the Senators off the board early and then the Canadiens were able to take over control of the game. They had several chances but Sens third string netminder Joey D’Accord was up to the task.

Though the Habs had sustained pressure for much of the second half of the period, the teams went to their dressing rooms with the game scoreless after one period of play.

Things got a little more interesting in the second period. The Canadiens got a power play midway through after struggling to get many shots on net early in the frame. A nice play by Corey Perry at the side of the net set up Brendan Gallagher at the top of the crease and he slammed the puck into the net before getting smacked in the face with a high stick.

The Canadiens took a 1-0 lead and also received a four minute power play. They were able to extend their lead to 2-0 when Jeff Petry hammered a puck past Sens goaltender Joey D’Accord on that man advantage.

The Sens pulled within one late in the period when Artem Zub did his best Jeff Petry impression by walking in off the right point and beating Carey Price under the blocker to make it 2-1.

The third period was an absolute snooze fest, but that is exactly what the Canadiens needed. To bust out of a five game losing streak, it was nice to see the Habs could shut things down defensively, and keep the losing team from penetrating the Habs zone to create chances.

The shots on goal in the third period were just 5 to 5, but when you are clinging to a one goal lead that is perfect. Price stopped all five and Tyler Toffoli sealed the win with an empty net goal.