Ivan Demidov scored the go-ahead goal at 12:40 of the third period and the Montreal Canadiens rallied for a 3-2 win over the Senators in Ottawa.
The Montreal forward knocked in the rebound after Linus Ullmark made the initial save against Alex Newhook on the rush but could not hold the puck.
Demidov added an assist and leads NHL rookies with 51 points (14 goals, 37 assists).
Juraj Slafkovsky and Alexandre Texier also scored for the Canadiens, who have won three straight and were playing the second of back-to-backs after a 3-1 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday. Jacob Fowler made 32 saves, including stopping the last 23 shots he faced, several during 6-on-5 play in the final minute.
Montreal moved into a tie for second place with idle Tampa Bay in the Atlantic Division.
Drake Batherson scored twice for the Senators, who had won three in a row and trail the idle Boston Bruins by five points for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. Ullmark made 20 saves.
Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle (two assists) extended his point streak to 14 games (eight goals, 11 assists). It was 100th NHL multi-point game.
Slafkovsky gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 1:16 into the first period. Nick Suzuki passed to Demidov in the slot and he fed Slafkovsky for the tip in at the left post.
Slafkovsky (164 career points) passed Henri Richard for the most points in franchise history by a player before age 22.
Batherson got the tying goal at 16:42 when Brady Tkachuk’s pass across the crease deflected off him and just over the goal line during a power play.
Batherson gave the Senators a 2-1 lead at 18:41 when the tipped puck past Fowler from in front.
The Canadiens tied it 2-2 at 17:29 of the second period. Moments after Fowler made a pair of saves on an Ottawa breakaway, Montreal entered the zone and Texier went behind the net and his wrap-around shot deflected off Ullmark’s right leg and over the goal line.
Ottawa outshot Montreal, 34-23, including 13-5 in the final period.
–Field Level Media
