Senators score twice on power play, stay hot with win against Canadiens

OTTAWA --Alex DeBrincat had three primary assists for the Ottawa Senators, who held off the Montreal Canadiens for a 3-2 win at Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday.

DeBrincat has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) during a seven-game point streak.
"It takes some time to get used to who you're playing with and where they're going to be on the ice," said DeBrincat, who was acquired by Ottawa in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks on July 7. "I think we're starting to figure that out a lot better now. Definitely that comfort level is much higher than it was earlier in the season."

Drake Batherson and Brady Tkachuk each had a goal and an assist, and Cam Talbot made 23 saves for the Senators (13-14-2), who have won three straight and are 7-2-1 in their past 10 games.
"We're fighting to get back in the pack," Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. "A real gutsy effort. We've got some guys down the middle out (Tim Stutzle, Josh Norris), and I thought we got some good efforts."
Kirby Dach and Christian Dvorak scored, and Sam Montembeault made 28 saves for the Canadiens (14-13-2).
"We have to have better discipline," Dvorak said. "They have a really good power play, and we knew that beforehand. We just took too many penalties, and they took advantage (5-for-7 on penalty kill). We were the better team 5-on-5, so we've just got to make sure we stay out of the box."
Shane Pinto gave the Senators a 1-0 lead at 1:28 of the second period, beating Montembeault low glove side after electing to shoot on a 2-on-1.
Batherson made it 2-0 at 5:41 when he put his stick between his legs and knocked in a rebound in the crease on a power play. He has nine points (three goals, six assists) during a six-game point streak.
"I didn't even know it was between the legs until the replay," Batherson said. "I'll take them any way they can come, though."

Tkachuk extended the lead to 3-0 at 8:02, redirecting DeBrincat's shot in front for another power-play goal.
"I feel like we have so many different looks, it's hard to defend all of them," DeBrincat said of the power play. "If we keep moving it around quickly like that, keep putting pucks on net and getting retrievals, I think we're going to score a lot."
At the time of the goal, Ottawa was outshooting Montreal 12-0 in the second.
"We liked our first period, no doubt," Dvorak said. "Second period, we were just on the penalty kill the whole period, so it's tough when you're doing that."
Dach made it 3-1 at 8:05 of the third period with a one-timer from the low slot off a backhand centering pass from Jake Evans from below the goal line.
"Our discipline kind of slipped away in the second," said Dach, who was called for three penalties in the second period. "I felt like 5-on-5 we were playing our game, we had control. … I obviously take ownership with the penalties I took tonight. The timing of them wasn't the best."

Dvorak cut it to 3-2 at 13:12, shooting over Talbot's left shoulder with a one-timer from the left face-off dot during a delayed penalty.
"Obviously, they had a good push at the end, but we stayed with it," Pinto said. "Talbot made some good saves, and we just stayed calm as much as we could. I know it got a little hectic there, but we got two points, so that's all that matters."
NOTES:Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin had two shots in 12:39 of ice time in his return after missing 13 games with an upper-body injury. … Senators forward Jacob Lucchini had one shot and one hit in 10:49 of ice time in his NHL debut. … It was the fifth time in his NHL career that DeBrincat has had three assists in one period. … Pinto has 10 goals this season, second among NHL rookies to Matty Beniers of the Seattle Kraken (11).