The Montreal Canadiens have sneakily made the Ottawa Senators their most significant rival over the past few seasons. It makes sense, as both teams are trying to escape a rebuild and get out of the Atlantic Division basement. The time isn't now, as they sit in the last two spots in the division again, after an offseason where both fanbases and media thought they'd take another step. However, it isn't just the fanbases which have caused the rivalry, even though it seems that way on social media.
Juraj Slafkovsky even admitted in a preseason interview that the Senators are the most hated team in the Canadiens locker room. Slafkovsky's comments came in the preseason after the Canadiens lost nine consecutive games to them, dating back to April 5th, 2022. The Senators won the final two matchups of that season, then were swept in 2022-23 and 2023-24. However, Montreal won the first meeting of this season 4-1. Their record against the Senators is 87-81-5-6.
The Canadiens dominated the Senators in this season's first meeting. Emil Heineman scored his first career goal to open the scoring, and then Cole Caufield scored his third of the year to pad the lead. Alex Newhook scored his first of the season in the third period before Cole Caufield iced the game with 12 minutes remaining for a 4-1 victory. Sam Montembeault stopped 24 of 25 shots for one of his more impressive 2024-25 season performances thus far.
Canadiens-Senators Playoff History
The Canadiens and Senators only played two times in the postseason in their histories. The most recent victory for the Canadiens was in the 2015 First Round. The Canadiens took a 3-0 series lead after overtime victories in Games 2 and 3. However, the Senators attempted to rally back with two straight wins.
Craig Anderson stepped in for Andrew Hammond and almost led the Senators back, but in the end he couldn't outduel Carey Price. Anderson had a .972 save percentage in his four games and allowed just one goal per game. However, Price countered with a .939 save percentage over the six games.
The teams also met in the 2013 Conference Quarter-Finals. The Senators won that series in five games, which was also the lockout shortened season. Anderson stole the show for Ottawa in that series too, earning a 4-1 record and a .950 save percentage.