Hammond makes 26 saves, Canadiens defeat Senators for fifth straight win

OTTAWA -- Andrew Hammond made 26 saves for the Montreal Canadiens in their fifth straight win, 2-1 against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.

It was Hammond's second NHL regular-season start since March 2018. He made 30 saves Sunday in his Canadiens debut, a 3-2 shootout victory at the New York Islanders.
In 2014-15 with Ottawa, Hammond was 20-1-2 and helped the Senators reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs after they were 14 points out of the last spot in the Eastern Conference.
"I have no animosity or anything like that towards them," Hammond said. "But I think it's natural any time you're playing your former team, you'd like to win. Obviously, [I'm] very happy that we were able to do that tonight. Just a really, I thought, grinding game by us. You've got to win lots of different ways. It was fun to be a part of."

Artturi Lehkonen scored twice for the Canadiens (13-33-7), who are on their longest winning streak of the season. They are 5-3-0 in eight games since Martin St. Louis replaced Dominique Ducharme as coach Feb. 9.
"I feel like we've gotten better and better and better and we're doing it consistently now," St. Louis said. "We come to work, take care of the team, play the game the right way. You're going to be in a lot of games. You don't know if you're going to score all the goals or get all the saves, but at the end of the day, you've given yourself a really good chance to win if you've played that way."
Colin White scored in his season debut for the Senators (19-27-5). The forward had shoulder surgery after a collision with Toronto Maple Leafs forward David Kampf during a preseason game and missed the first 50 games of the regular season.
"I think I said it a few weeks back, but seeing it from the outside, you see how lucky we are to play hockey and play the game we love," White said. "To be back out there with the guys and go through the emotions through the game and after the game and win or lose as a team, we're all in it together, and just to be with them again, it's great for me."
Matt Murray made 30 saves for Ottawa, which played without defensemen Thomas Chabot and Nikita Zaitsev due to non-COVID-19 related illness.
"We didn't have the puck in their zone enough to give our [defensemen] a breather," Senators coach D.J. Smith said. "We had bad pinches and some [players] not covering guys. And ultimately, you're missing [Chabot] with those power plays. There were a lot of things that were good, but offensively we just weren't very good."

Lehkonen scored at 16:47 off the first period when he won a battle for a rebound in front to give Montreal a 1-0 lead.
White tied it 1-1 on the power play at 1:23 of the second period when he one-timed a centering pass from Connor Brown.
"I thought he was good," Smith said of White. "You know what, he gave us some good shifts. I mean, there's system stuff that was off a little bit, but he played with heart, got to the net and did what he had to do tonight."
Lehkonen scored at 14:21 with a slap shot from the top of the slot for the 2-1 final.
"We're trying to stay on top of guys, force other teams to make mistakes," Lehkonen said. "As of now, we're getting a bit of swagger. Confidence is a huge thing in this league."
Hammond made seven saves in the third period.
"They came in waves at times," he said. "But for the most part, I think we kept them to the outside and made my job very easy."
NOTES:The winning streak is the Canadiens' longest since the 2017-18 season, when they also won five straight. ... Montreal defenseman Chris Wideman had two shots on goal in 15:24 of ice time in his return to Ottawa; he scored 43 points (16 goals, 27 assists) in 175 games for the Senators from 2015-19. Wideman played in the Kontinental Hockey League last season and with San Diego of the American Hockey League in 2019-20. … With Chabot and Zaitsev unavailable, the Senators played five defensemen and 13 forwards. Defenseman Victor Mete had one assist in 19:40, and forward Dylan Gambrell had one shot in 7:44. ... Hammond was 27-14-6 with a 2.31 goals-against average and .923 save percentage in 55 games in four seasons with Ottawa before being traded to the Colorado Avalanche on Nov. 5, 2017.