Canadiens top Senators in shootout

OTTAWA -- The Montreal Canadiens extended their lead in the Atlantic Division to two points with a 4-3 shootout win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.
Andrew Shaw, Phillip Danault and Brendan Gallagher scored in regulation and Paul Byron and Alexander Radulov scored in the shootout for Montreal (40-23-8). Carey Price made 28 saves.

The Canadiens will host the Senators (39-23-8) in the second game of their back-to-back set at Bell Centre on Sunday.
WATCH: All Canadiens vs. Senators highlights
Derick Brassard, Ryan Dzingel and Erik Karlsson scored for the Senators and Craig Anderson, who returned after missing two games because of a lower-body injury, made 29 saves. The Senators have a game in hand on the Canadiens.
"What happened tonight was probably what every hockey expert would have thought of; a real tight game, two teams that are playing well, playing with lots of confidence, playing for a top spot," Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. "That's what we saw tonight and probably was expected."

The Canadiens killed off a holding penalty against Max Pacioretty in overtime to give themselves a chance to earn the extra point.
It was Montreal's NHL-leading 11th win when trailing after two periods.
"We've got the guys who know how to put games away, know how to finish it," said Shaw, who gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead with his 11th of the season at 2:37 of the second period. "We gave away the lead there late, but we worked it back and the PK had a huge kill there in overtime."
Brassard and Dzingel scored 1:16 apart in the second period to give the Senators a 2-1 lead.

After Danault and Gallagher scored 31 seconds apart in the third period to give the Canadiens a 3-2 lead, Karlsson tied it with a wrist shot from the left point at 15:03 of the third.
"We've been falling behind sometimes after two and we've showed a lot of character coming back in the third period, not giving up," Julien said. "Even that goal [by Karlsson] didn't seem to rattle us. We came back after they tied it, had a couple of real good shifts where we had some opportunities. The kill in the overtime was a key moment to give us a chance to win that game."

Price stopped Bobby Ryan and Kyle Turris in the shootout.
"We had a chance to win it in overtime," Brassard said. "It was a great hockey game. It's just a matter of inches, those games. We have to put this game behind us, and we're looking forward for [Sunday]. If we win [Sunday], we're going to be first in the division."

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Goal of the game

Brassard scored his 13th goal of the season at 12:36 of the second period on a power play when he beat Jordie Benn to the front of the net and put a backhand pass from Turris behind Price.

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Save of the game

Danault had a breakaway 1:12 into the second period, but Anderson stopped his shot to keep the game scoreless.

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Highlight of the game

After Price denied Ryan to start the first round, Byron, the Canadiens' first shooter in the shootout, skated in and scored against Anderson.

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Unsung performance of the game

The Canadiens' penalty killers held the Senators to two shots during a holding penalty against Pacioretty in overtime.

They said it

"We know they are going to be disappointed with the outcome tonight, so we've got to expect an angry team [Sunday] night. We know what they are capable of; they go out there and work with speed." -- Canadiens forward Andrew Shaw
"That was the first real taste I've had of the rivalry. I've played them a couple of times, but that was a fun game to play in. The crowd was going … that was the NHL right there. That was a lot of fun to play in." -- Senators forward Ryan Dzingel
"We know it's a disease we've got. We're looking for extra plays. It's very rare you're going to beat a goalie the caliber of Carey Price with some pretty extra plays. When he sees the puck, he's going to stop it." -- Senators coach Guy Boucher

Need to know

Boucher said if Anderson can play Sunday in Montreal, he will. "It depends on the goaltender coach and the medical staff to tell me that everything is good," Boucher said. "If it's good, he's in. If we're not or he's tired, then it will be [Mike Condon]." ... Dzingel played his 100th NHL game. ... Andrei Markov tied Saku Koivu for sixth place on the Canadiens all-time list with 450 assists.

What's next

Canadiens: Host the Ottawa Senators on Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET; SN, RDS,
NHL.TV
)
Senators:At the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET; SN, RDS,
NHL.TV
)