Tkachuk gave the Senators a 1-0 lead at 8:40 of the first period when he beat Primeau with a wrist shot from the right circle just eight seconds after Canadiens forward Sean Monahan hit the crossbar at the other end.
Stutzle elected to shoot on a 2-on-1 rush and scored with a wrist shot to make it 2-0 at 11:07. It was his first goal in 11 games.
“Everybody knows how good of a player he is, and hey, he’s got a target on his back every single day,” Tkachuk said of Stutzle. “Every game guys are trying to get him off his game, but I think tonight he showed his maturity, that it doesn’t matter, he’s just going to keep playing until the very end. He made some unbelievable plays tonight.”
Caufield’s wrist shot from the slot hit Korpisalo’s glove and rolled over the goal line to cut it to 2-1 at 13:25. It was Caufield’s fourth goal in as many games.
“We’ve had a tough schedule here,” Caufield said. “These games, you’ve got to use your brain a little more and trust your mind. But obviously, it’s tough going down early. We were in it for a while, and a tough second period, but again, playing back to back is tough. At the end of the day, the league doesn’t care and we’ve got to be ready for those things.”
Rourke Chartier put in a rebound off Kelly’s shot from the right point to make it 3-1 at 9:51 of the second period.
Vladimir Tarasenko took a cross-ice pass from Tkachuk on a 3-on-2 rush and scored with a wrist shot over Primeau’s glove to extend the lead to 4-1 at 18:54.
“I thought it was a really good effort for 60 minutes,” Martin said. “I thought we played on our toes. What I like is, the last couple of games, I like the amount of time we’re spending in the offensive zone. I think that’s a good sign. … I think it’s a step in the right direction.”