Coach Michel Therrien gave a sly smile when asked if Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau's return to the Montreal Canadiens lineup had anything to do with a tweet sent by his agent.

"We saw the tweet from his agent and that made us think seriously about bringing him back to the lineup," a tongue-in-cheek Therrien said from Brossard, Que., after confirming the winger would return for a game Thursday night against the Ottawa Senators.

Parenteau, who has only six goals and 15 points in 41 games this season, has been a healthy scratch in five of the last six games after returning from a concussion.

After a 1-0 overtime loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday night, his agent Allan Walsh sent a tweet, suggesting the Canadiens could use the forward’s offensive skill.

Therrien said he felt the timing was right to get Parenteau back in the game. He skated on the second line with Tomas Plenkanec and Alex Galchenyuk.

He said he met with Parenteau to tell him there was no pressure on him to score but he needed to work hard, make good decisions and make plays.

Parenteau had no comment on Walsh's tweet.

When asked if an agent putting pressure on a coach would affect the team, Therrien smiled again and said: "I don't think so."

While Carey Price continues to shine in goal, the slumping Montreal Canadiens don't want to keep letting his performances go to waste.

Montreal will try to pick up the pace offensively Thursday night against the visiting Ottawa Senators, who are looking to resume their playoff push after a costly loss.

The Canadiens (42-18-7) have been limited to six goals during a 1-2-2 slide, and they were shut out for the second time over that stretch in Tuesday's 1-0 overtime defeat to Tampa Bay. Price finished with 35 saves, with his only blemish coming 1:03 into OT after the puck bounced off defenseman Tom Gilbert's skate.

The Canadiens were outshot 36-19, including 13-2 after the first two periods. They now sit just one point ahead of the Lightning for the Atlantic Division lead.

"Sometimes your best defense is offense, and it's obviously something that we need to continue working at with the 15 games we've got left, making sure we're putting more pucks on net," defenseman P.K. Subban told the team's official website.

Montreal has had fewer than 25 shots in six of the past nine games.

Price has dropped three of four starts this month despite a 1.76 goals-against average.

"It's always the same story with Carey," forward Max Pacioretty said. "He was amazing and deserves to be recognized for his repeat performances like that, but at the end of the day it doesn't make us feel good as his teammates to leave him out to dry that much. You can't win a game if you don't score goals, so we've got to find a way to put pucks in the net."

The Senators (30-24-11) are also looking to bounce back following Tuesday's 3-1 loss to Boston, their first in regulation since Feb. 16. Ottawa had won eight of its previous nine to climb back into the Eastern Conference playoff picture, but it fell seven points behind the Bruins for the second wild-card spot.

"We've still got 17 games left, we've got a game in hand and one more game against (Boston) so I'm definitely not going to rule us out I'll tell you that much," center Kyle Turris said.

Craig Anderson stopped 19 shots after turning away 42 two nights earlier in a 5-4 shootout win over Calgary, his first two games since missing 17 due to a hand injury. Rookie Matt Puempel provided all the offense Tuesday with his first goal.

"One thing this team has shown over the last little while is resilience," coach Dave Cameron said. "We've been down and counted out before. We're just going to focus on how to beat Montreal the next game.

"They're not showing me any signs they're not going to keep their nose to the grindstone and let the chips fall where they may."

Anderson has surrendered 16 goals in splitting his last four matchups against the Canadiens. However, the Senators could turn back to Andrew Hammond, who went 7-0-1 with a 1.43 GAA during Anderson's absence.

Hammond made 42 saves opposite Montreal's Dustin Tokarski in his first career start, a 4-2 home win Feb. 18.

Price also didn't appear in a 4-1 loss at Ottawa on Jan. 15, though he did make 24 saves in a 4-1 home win over the Senators on Dec. 20 for his third straight victory in the series. He's 11-1-4 with a 2.02 GAA in his last 16 regular-season starts against Ottawa.

Price leads the NHL with a 1.87 GAA, .937 save percentage and 37 wins, one off his career high set in 2010-11.

Pacioretty, leading the Canadiens with 57 points, has six goals and five assists during a six-game point streak versus Ottawa.