Senators' skid hits six games with loss to Canadiens

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Game Information

Arena: Scotiabank Place Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Referees: Rob Martell Linesmen: Don Henderson, Mark Shewchyk

Attendance: 20,475 (110.7% full)

Team Stat Comparison
242	Goals	213
240	Goals Against	231
72	Power Play Goals	66
65	Power Play Goals Allowed	64
10	Shorthanded Goals	8
11	Shorthanded Goals Allowed	5
1229	Penalty Minutes	1098
15	Average Penalty Minutes	13

Scoring Summary
1ST PERIOD			MON	OTT
4:21		Dany Heatley Assists: Daniel Alfredsson, Alexandre Picard	0	1
13:33		Saku Koivu (Power Play) Assists: Alexei Kovalev, Sergei Kostitsyn	1	1
2ND PERIOD			MON	OTT
No scoring this period			1	1
3RD PERIOD			MON	OTT
4:58		Nick Foligno (Power Play) Assists: Alexandre Picard, Chris Phillips	1	2
15:36		Andrei Markov Assists: Robert Lang, Sergei Kostitsyn	2	2
OT			MON	OTT
No scoring this period			2	2
Shootout Summary
	Alexei Kovalev shootout attempt against Alex Auld with a Wide of Net results in a MISS.
	Daniel Alfredsson shootout attempt against Carey Price with a Snapshot results in a SAVE.
	Andrei Markov shootout attempt against Alex Auld with a Backhand results in a GOAL.
	Jarkko Ruutu shootout attempt against Carey Price with a Backhand results in a SAVE.
	Saku Koivu shootout attempt against Alex Auld with a Backhand results in a SAVE.
	Antoine Vermette shootout attempt against Carey Price with a Wide of Net results in a MISS.
	Alex Tanguay shootout attempt against Alex Auld with a Backhand results in a GOAL.

OTTAWA -- Alex Tanguay looked as if he was going to back right into Alex Auld before he put a backhander through the Ottawa goalie's legs for the shootout winner.

Fast Facts

• The Canadiens have won two straight games at Ottawa after losing their previous six consecutive games there.

• The Senators have lost three straight games against Montreal after going 8-1-0 in their previous nine games against the Habs.

• Ottawa has scored two goals or less in 13 of its 19 games this season and fell to 2-9 in one-goal games this season.

-- ESPN research

Tanguay scored on Montreal's fourth shootout attempt to give the Canadiens a 3-2 victory over the Senators on Thursday night.

Tanguay turned to the right as he bore in on Auld and skated backward before scoring the winner after Andrei Markov had the only goal on Montreal's first three attempts.

"It's a move that either the goalie plays the shot there or he opens his legs to cover both posts," Tanguay said.

Auld acknowledged that skaters are using an ever-growing range of approaches on shootout attempts.

"Guys are trying anything and that was a pretty good play," Auld said. "I didn't know whether he was going to pull it back to his forehand or not. I was kind of thinking that if he was going to shoot, he'd probably go high -- on the backhand, usually guys try to get it up. It was a good, patient play on his part."

Carey Price, who made 23 saves, stopped Daniel Alfredsson, Jarkko Ruutu and Antoine Vermette after Jason Spezza scored on Ottawa's first shot in the tiebreaker.

The Senators' losing streak reached six games (0-4-2).

"We're not happy with it, but I think the way we played is encouraging," Ruutu said. "If we keep working like we did tonight, playing the way we did, we're going to get rewarded for it. You can't bury your head and feel sorry for yourself. It's actually the opposite, we should feel a lot better than we did a couple of games ago."

Markov drew Montreal even at 2 with 4:24 remaining in the third. The Russian defenseman drove a slap shot past Auld from the right faceoff circle for his second goal of the season.

"It was a pretty tight game, I thought," Tanguay said. "It was a fast-paced game and both sides were desperate to get a win. It's a huge relief for us. Andrei has played some great hockey for us. The puck hasn't gone in as much as he'd like but he made an outstanding shot there and fortunately for us, that puck found its way into the net."

Saku Koivu pulled the Canadiens even at 1 with his seventh goal on a power play 13:33 into the first.

"It was a huge win for us, obviously," Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau said. "Both teams started the game knowing that it was going to be a tough game, that both teams were kind of struggling lately and that everything was going to be left on the ice. It was a really good game."

Dany Heatley gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead 4:21 in with his team-leading 11th goal. Nick Foligno put Ottawa ahead 2-1 with his second goal on a power play 4:58 into the third.

Montreal's Guillaume Latendresse drew a high-sticking penalty after he got his stick up on defenseman Anton Volchenkov in the Senators' zone with 15.2 remaining in regulation.

Auld stopped 19 shots in his fifth straight start for Ottawa.

Montreal, which lost 2-1 in Carolina on Tuesday, won for just the third time in its last eight games (3-4-1) since getting off to an 8-1-1 start.

"I thought this was a step in the right direction for our team," Price said. "I thought the last three games we started to turn it around and start to play well, even though we lost the last game. We're starting to bond more as a group, I think."

Ottawa was without center Mike Fisher and right winger Chris Neil, both sidelined because of knee injuries.

Fisher strained a ligament in his right knee in Monday's 2-1 shootout loss in New York and is expected to be out for a week. Neil will have arthroscopic surgery Friday to repair a meniscus tear in his right knee. He's expected to miss at least a month.

Heatley opened the scoring when he flipped a shot past Price from the slot after Alfredsson redirected Alexandre Picard's point shot.

Koivu jammed a shot between Auld's pads from the right edge of the crease at 13:33 to tie it at 1.

Vermette appeared to have scored the go-ahead goal for Ottawa 17:55 into the second during a delayed penalty call.

Referee Don VanMassenhoven immediately waved it off, despite Senators alternate captain Chris Phillips' protests, indicating that he had blown his whistle when Montreal defenseman Francis Bouillon played the puck just before Vermette beat Price with his shot from the slot.

"I heard it right before he released the puck," Price said.

Game notes
Canadiens center Maxim Lapierre and right winger Mathieu Dandenault were healthy scratches. ... Senators center Cody Bass made his season debut on a line with Foligno and Ilya Zubov. ... Veteran defenseman Luke Richardson did not play for Ottawa.