By Canadian Press

Brady Tkachuk scores overtime winner as Ottawa defeats Montreal 3-2

Feb 21, 2021 | 7:07 PM

OTTAWA — Brady Tkachuk scored the overtime winner to give the Ottawa Senators a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa Sunday night.

Drake Batherson and Josh Norris also scored a goal for Ottawa (5-14-1).

Corey Perry and Nick Suzuki scored for Montreal (9-5-3). Suzuki’s goal snapped a four-game pointless streak, but the Canadiens are now winless in their last two games.

Canadiens goalie Jake Allen made 36 saves in a losing effort while Senators netminder Matt Murray made 30 saves.

Suzuki scored the game’s first goal one minute at 17 seconds into the contest. He wired a shot off the post and in the net past Murray. Josh Anderson picked up an assist on the goal.

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The Senators tied the game eight minutes and 30 seconds later thanks to a goal from Batherson. As the forward drove to the net, he toe-dragged the puck before falling to the ice. As he fell, the puck lightly floated in the air and over Allen’s shoulder before it fell in the back of the net.

Neither team found the back of the net in the second period, despite Montreal outshooting Ottawa 14-8.

The deadlock finally broke in the third period after yet another floating puck beat Allen.

Sens defenceman Nikita Zaitsev fired a shot that deflected off of Norris’s stick. The puck then hit Allen’s own stick before flying over the netminder and falling behind the red line.

But Montreal would tie the game with over five-and-a-half minutes to play thanks to Perry. The 35-year-old, who joined Montreal as a free agent last December, carried the puck into the Senators zone and blew past defenceman Erik Gudbranson along the wing. Perry then drove to the net and put the puck under Murray’s left skate and into the goal.

The Canadiens and Senators traded chances in overtime, with Allen making two saves on breakaways. But the Senators applied more pressure as the period went on, culminating in Tkachuk’s overtime winner with 90 seconds to play.

NOTES: Ottawa Senators defenceman Thomas Chabot was unavailable for a second straight game. He has been sidelined with an upper-body injury….Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin left the game after taking a hit near the end of the second period. He did not return.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 21, 2021.

The Canadian Press