MONTREAL

Canadiens win again, go 2 for 2 in home-and-home series with Senators

Kelsey Patterson The Canadian Press
Published Sunday, March 19, 2017 10:39PM EDT

Ottawa Senators' Alexandre Burrows (14) takes a shot on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price as Canadiens' Nathan Beaulieu (28) and Senators' Ryan Dzingel look for the rebound during second period NHL hockey action in Montreal, Sunday, March 19, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Text:

MONTREAL -- Carey Price made 30 saves for his 33rd win of the season as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the visiting Ottawa Senators 4-1 on Sunday in the second game of a home-and-home series.

The Canadiens now lead the Atlantic Division by four points over the Senators, which still have one game in hand.

Tomas Plekanec, Jordie Benn, Paul Byron and Nathan Beaulieu scored for Montreal (41-23-8).

Tom Pyatt scored a first-period goal for the Senators (39-24-8) while Craig Anderson stopped 33 shots.

The Canadiens also downed the Sens in Ottawa on Saturday, winning 4-3 in a shootout. Price made 28 saves in that game while Anderson stopped 29 shots in defeat.

With Montreal leading 2-1 in the third on Sunday, Byron put the game to bed when he went five-hole on Anderson at 3:30, opting to shoot while on a 2-on-1 with Plekanec.

The goal was Byron's 20th of the season. He also added an assist on Montreal's first goal of the game.

Beaulieu made in 4-1, on the power play, scoring with a slapshot from the blue line with Anderson screened by Artturi Lekhonen at 5:08.

Montreal is now 8-4-2 in the second game of a back-to-back. The Senators are 6-4-1.

Sunday's game had big playoff implications, and the energy on the ice and atmosphere in the stands were definitely playoff-like.

Montreal came out flying, only needing 28 seconds to get the sell-out crowd off its feet.

Plekanec scored his first goal since Jan. 24 when Andrei Markov's shot from the point bounced off Anderson's chest and fell right to the veteran centre in the crease for his eighth of the season.

The lead was short-lived as Pyatt scored the equalizer at 4:36 of the first when his shot from close range deflected off Benn's stick and skipped over Price's outstretched pad.

Benn made up for the mistake later in the same period when his shot from the point took a serious deflection off Viktor Stalberg's stick to beat Anderson glove side at 17:45.

Price only faced six shots in the second period but he needed to be at his best when Kyle Turris fired a one-timer destined for the back of the net. The Canadiens goalie sprang to his right and did the splits to get his toe on the puck.

Notes: Montreal's Alexei Emelin was back in the lineup after he was a healthy scratch in Ottawa. The Canadiens are 10-4-0 under Claude Julien. Torrey Mitchell played his 600th NHL game.