A new season presents another opportunity for the Ottawa Senators to continue their recent dominance of the Montreal Canadiens.
Vying to start 2-0-0 for the first time in eight seasons, the visiting Senators eye a 10th consecutive victory over the Canadiens on Saturday night.
Ottawa hasn’t made a playoff appearance since 2017, but it has certainly claimed bragging rights over its eastern Canadian rival in recent years.
The Senators have outscored Montreal 45-22 during an impressive 9-0-0 stretch against the Canadiens. Ottawa, which has also won four straight at Montreal, suffered its most recent defeat in this series on March 19, 2022.
It’s been even longer since the Senators opened with consecutive victories overall, going all the way back to that 2016-17 playoff season, when they kicked things off with wins over Toronto and Montreal.
Ottawa put itself in position to finally accomplish that feat again after Tim Stutzle scored twice and Linus Ullmark made 30 saves in his Ottawa debut during Thursday’s 3-1 home win over the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
“We dug in when we needed to,” first-year Senators coach Travis Green said. “It wasn’t just one or two guys. Everyone throughout the lineup. It was a special night.”
Especially for Stutzle, who opened strong after following up 2022-23’s 39-goal campaign with a disappointing 18 last season.
“It’s a great step in the right direction,” Stutzle said.
Stutzle has six goals and 11 assists in 19 career games versus Montreal.
The Canadiens opened the season with Wednesday’s 1-0 home victory versus rival Toronto, but they struggled to build on that solid performance while falling 6-4 at Boston on Thursday. Against the Bruins, Montreal scored twice in the first period but allowed three goals before the first intermission, then trailed 5-2 after two.
“We’re going to correct the mistakes,” Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said.
The massive difference between games in overall performance and results for the Canadiens is intriguing. However, not immediately concerning for the club.
“We’ve taken steps as a team, but clearly not there yet. We’ve got some growing to do,” Montreal forward Brendan Gallagher said.
Gallagher and teammate Cole Caufield each have two goals on the young season. Caufield has scored seven times in 10 career contests versus Ottawa. Gallagher, meanwhile, has three goals with five assists in his last nine games against the Senators.
Sam Montembeault stopped 48 shots against the Maple Leafs, and he could be back in the Montreal net for this matchup after Cayden Primeau was roughed up in stopping 23 of 29 shots at Boston. Montembeault, however, is 0-3-0 with a 4.13 goals-against average versus Ottawa.
Ullmark, the 2023 Vezina Trophy winner while with Boston, is 3-1-0 with a 2.58 goals-against average in five career starts versus Montreal. However, it’s possible Saturday’s start is given to teammate Anton Forsberg, who owns a 2.51 GAA while winning his last six starts against the Canadiens.
Ottawa star Brady Tkachuk recorded an assist Thursday. He posted six goals with eight assists during the Senators’ nine-game winning streak versus Montreal.
–Field Level Media
