Canadiens 6, Senators 5 (OT)
The Ottawa Senators were angry and frustrated.
After blowing a two-goal lead late in the third period and dropping a 6-5 decision to the arch-rival Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night at the Canadian Tire Centre, the Senators didn’t mince words when it came to trying to explain the loss.
Goaltender Leevi Merilainen, who has struggled all season, wasn’t good enough as Cole Caufield capped the comeback with the winner only 33 seconds into overtime. Juraj Slavkovsky and Alexandra Carrier set up the heroics by beating Merilainen in a span of 65 seconds to tie it up 5-5.
“I think Leevi made some good saves. But I think, at the end of the day, you’ve got to make more than 10 saves to win a game,” said a frustrated Jake Sanderson, who had a four-point effort.
Merilainen gave up six goals on 19 shots.
“It’s hard to give him a pass. Six goals on (19) shots, and I’m sure he’d like to have one or two back. I feel bad for him,” said coach Travis Green.
Sanderson, David Perron, Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk and Dylan Cozens scored for the Senators, who looked like they were well in control until the Habs got up off the mat.
Sanderson extended the Senators’ lead to 5-3 at 7:36 of the third period by firing a bullet by Canadiens netminder Samuel Montembeault.
The Senators were six points back of the Boston Bruins for the final wildcard spot in the National Hockey League’s Eastern Conference as they prepared to head into back-to-back contests against the Habs on Saturday and the Red Wings in Detroit on Sunday night.
Canadiens defenceman Lane Hutson is checked into the boards by Senators forward Ridly Greig in the first period.
ATLANTIC RIVALS
If the Senators are going to make the playoffs for the second straight spring, the only option down the stretch is to play better than .600 in the final 36 games of the regular season.
“It’s a massive game. We know that it’s going to take all of us to get the job (done),” Tkachuk said before the game. “Expect it to be a highly intense, highly emotional game. Two teams that both need a win, and, of course, these games are always fun to play in.”
The Senators battled back to take a 4-3 lead through two periods. Perron gave Ottawa its first lead with 1:36 left in the second period, after Cozens tied it up by beating Montembeault on a power play at 15:31.
Merilainen made his 10th consecutive start and 11th straight appearance in the net for Ottawa.
He’s expected to get a break in Detroit with the anticipation that veteran James Reimer will make his first start since signing with Ottawa last Monday. Something has to change, but Tkachuk stood up for the goalie.
“It’s easy to criticize, but it’s not about an individual in this sport, it’s about the whole team, and we gotta do a better job helping him,” Tkachuk said. He’s going to have an amazing long career ahead of him. He’s an unbelievable goalie and an unbelievable person.
“The message is it’s not just one person win or lose a game, it’s the whole team.”
The Senators battled back from being 2-0 early in the second period, but Merilainen allowed Josh Anderson to restore the visitors’ lead at 4:06. Anderson just threw a snapshot towards the net that beat Merilainen on the stick side.
TALK OF THE TOWN
Stutzle scored one of the prettiest goals in franchise history to tie the game 2-2 only 3:07 into the second period. You’re going to be seeing and hearing about this goal for the rest of the season.
He skated out of the corner with the puck, pulled it back through his own legs and then fired it by Montembeault. We’ve seen a lot over the years, but never anything like that.
“I don’t really want to talk about the goal,” said Stutzle. “We lost the game. I should have capitalized in OT.”
The Senators started the second period with a 5-on-3 power play for 1:46. Tkachuk pulled his club within a goal, at 2-1, by beating Montembeault from close range only 42 seconds into the period.
That was Tkachuk’s 10th career goal and 26th point in 27 career games against Montreal.
Senators winger Michael Amadio (22) slides into Canadiens netminder Samuel Montembeault, causing him to stumble in the second period.
TOUGH START
The first period was tight-checking, and scoring chances were hard to come by, but the Habs led 2-0 thanks to scoring twice with the man advantage.
Caufield extended the lead with 2:10 left in the period, beating Merilainen through the five-hole.
The Habs thought they had pulled to a two-goal lead earlier after Zachary Bolduc fired the puck by Merilainen with 8:35 left in the period. The Senators challenged right away for offside, and the officials didn’t take long to wave off the goal.
“Montreal’s Jake Evans preceded the puck into the offensive zone and was in an offside position prior to Bolduc’s goal,” the NHL said in its decision.
The Senators were forced to chase this one early. Slavkovsky opened the scoring at 3:06 by beating Merilainen with a blast from the left circle during Montreal’s first power play of the night.
bgarrioch@postmedia.com
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