Senators score 3 in 3rd, defeat Canadiens

MONTREAL --Derick Brassard had a goal and an assist, and the Ottawa Senators scored three times in the third period for a 5-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Saturday.

Mads Sogaard made 30 saves and had an assist, and Nick Holden had two assists for Ottawa (28-26-4), which swept the season series against the Canadiens for the first time in its history.
"The two points are huge if we're trying to climb in the standings," Brassard said. "And like our top players, they've been pretty good for us for a while here, and it was nice for the bottom six that you chipped in here for the team. And it's always nice when you're helping the team to win some games."

Mike Matheson and Nick Suzuki scored, and Sam Montembeault made 17 saves for Montreal (25-30-4), which had won five of seven.
"We gave up 2-on-1s that really hurt us tonight," Canadiens defenseman David Savard said. "I think overall we were playing good, and the first two periods were a textbook of how we wanted to play. Obviously, there were a couple of mistakes, they scored, but I think we were creating a lot. We weren't giving much, and in the third a couple of mistakes and they got the lead, and after that they were playing well with the lead."
Losing all four games to the Senators this season did not sit well with Savard and his teammates.
"Obviously, that's frustrating," Montreal forward Michael Pezzetta said. "I mean, it's a team that I think we have a lot of bad blood between each other and, yeah, obviously not happy right now, and not a good feeling."

Austin Watson gave the Senators a 3-2 lead at 4:31 of the third period when he reached in front to deflect Travis Hamonic's one-timer from the point through traffic.
Drake Batherson pushed it to 4-2 at 5:18, scoring with a rising wrist shot after changing his shooting angle to use Canadiens defenseman Jordan Harris as a screen.
Julien Gauthier extended the lead to 5-2 at 11:57. It was his first goal in three games with Ottawa since being acquired from the New York Rangers in a trade for Tyler Motte on Sunday.
"Everybody's been great to me so it's fun," Gauthier said. "The adaptation has been really smooth, and I'm just happy to be here."

Brassard put the Senators ahead 1-0 at 15:12 of the first period. He tipped Holden's shot from the point inside the left post after Mark Kastelic won an offensive zone face-off.
Matheson tied it 1-1 at 4:29 of the second period when he skated around Ottawa defenseman Thomas Chabot and flipped his own rebound over Sogaard.
Suzuki put the Canadiens ahead 2-1 at 8:46, deking Sogaard on a breakaway for his 20th goal of the season.
Shane Pinto tied it 2-2 at 13:51 when he redirected Alex DeBrincat's pass in the slot.
"We didn't take care of the puck at all," Senators coach D.J. Smith said. "Clearly we were rattled there for a six-minute span where we were just kind of running around, turning pucks over, lost focus really. A game like this, we knew we had to have it, and sometimes you squeeze and it's not going your way.
"But good on the guys, they got themselves together after the second TV timeout, played much better in the second half."
NOTES: Sogaard, who has appeared in five games this season, is 3-0-1 in four starts. … Ottawa has won six straight against Montreal for the first time since Feb. 8-Nov. 19, 2007. … Kastelic had an assist and two hits in 11:46 in his first game since Jan. 21 after being recalled from Belleville of the American Hockey League on Saturday. … Matheson has five points (two goals, three assists) during a four-game point streak.