Tkachuk, Zetterlund lead Ottawa Senators past Montreal Canadiens 5-2

MONTREAL — Brady Tkachuk and Fabian Zetterlund had a goal and an assist each as the Ottawa Senators defeated the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 in a heavy-hitting game between two Atlantic Division rivals Tuesday.

Drake Batherson, Jake Sanderson and Artem Zub also scored as Ottawa (13-9-4) snapped a two-game skid to end a season-long seven-game road trip.

Jordan Spence and Tyler Kleven provided two assists apiece, and Linus Ullmark stopped 19 shots.

Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky replied with power-play goals for Montreal (13-9-3), which lost its second straight after falling 7-2 to Colorado on Saturday. Sam Montembeault made 24 saves.

Ottawa, with 30 points, leapfrogged Montreal into second place in the Atlantic. The Canadiens dropped outside the playoffs.

The Senators led 2-1 after the first period. Slafkovsky opened the scoring at 3:37, but Zetterlund replied only 24 seconds later with a one-timer from distance. Zub then deked Montembeault after a slick behind-the-back feed from Tkachuk at 16:53.

Sanderson and Batherson pushed Ottawa’s lead to 4-1 with goals one minute apart in the second. Sanderson drove to the net and beat Montembeault with a backhand in tight before an unchecked Batherson scooped up a juicy rebound for an easy goal at 6:58.

Suzuki cut into the lead at 8:50 with a wrist shot through Ullmark. Tkachuk then made it 5-2 during a delayed penalty with 7:17 left in the game, taunting the crowd after the goal.

Takeaways

Senators: Dominated play at 5-on-5 but special teams continued to struggle. Ottawa went 0-for-2 on the power play and gave up two goals on three Montreal opportunities. The Senators’ power play ranked 28th in the NHL in November, and the penalty kill sat 31st in the league entering Tuesday.

Canadiens: Another tough night for Montembeault. The Canadiens’ netminder stopped an encouraging 30 of 31 shots against Vegas in his last game, but looked shaky against the Senators. He entered with a .864 save percentage this season — well below his career average (.896).

Key moment

Batherson picked up a poor rebound from Montembeault and casually flipped the puck into an open net as Montreal’s defence watched.

Key stat

Senators journeyman David Perron picked up an assist in his 1,200th game, making stops in St. Louis (three times), Edmonton, Pittsburgh, Anaheim, Vegas, Detroit and Ottawa. The 37-year-old from Sherbrooke, Que., has 322 career goals and 474 assists.

Up next

Senators: Host the New York Rangers on Thursday.

Canadiens: Host the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 2, 2025.