National Hockey League
Ottawa 6, Montreal 4
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, April 23, 2022
Where: Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa, Ontario
Referees: Trevor Hanson, Justin Kea
Linesmen: Ryan Daisy, Julien Fournier
Attendance: 19410

Mark Kastelic scored his first two NHL goals, and got into a fight, as the Ottawa Senators used a five-goal second period to win their third in a row Saturday night, 6-4 over the visiting Montreal Canadiens.

The loss was Montreal's eighth in a row.

Parker Kelly and Austin Watson each had a goal with an assist, Josh Norris posted his 34th goal and Anton Forsberg made 44 saves for the Senators (31-41-7, 69 points), who snapped an 0-2-1 home rut during a chippy affair that featured 15 total penalties. Playing in his 13th NHL game, Kastelic scored his milestone goal just 2:33 into the contest, then immediately got into a tussle with Montreal's Michael Pezzetta.

Playing one night after the death of legend Guy Lafleur, who was honored with a pregame video tribute Saturday, Montreal (20-48-11, 51 points) got a pair of goals from Rem Pitlick and Cole Caulfield's 20th. However, Carey Price stopped just 20 of 26 shots to remain winless in four 2021-22 starts as the Canadiens dropped their eighth straight in regulation for the second time in three months.

Tied 1-1 after a period, Ottawa scored 44 seconds into the second when Watson batted in Nick Holden's shot from the blue line. Kelly put Ottawa up 3-1 via a two-on-one with 13:17 to play in the second. Just 32 seconds later, Norris scored, and 35 seconds after that, Kastelic made it 5-1.

Montreal outshot Ottawa 16-6 in the first period, and tied it at 1-1 with 4:03 left in the opening frame. Jake Evans flung the puck into the slot for Pitlick to snap a 13-game goal drought.

Caufield stopped the second-period bleeding for Montreal when he took a back-handed pass from ex-Senator Mike Hoffman to make it 5-2 with 11:17 to play in the period. According to Sportsnet, Caufield is the first Montreal rookie to record at least 20 goals since Chris Higgins in 2005-06.

Joel Edmundson's drive with 2:43 left in the second got the Canadiens within two. But just 43 seconds later and Ottawa short-handed, Alex Formenton broke free to beat Price and put Ottawa up 6-3.

Pitlick's second of the night came with 11:41 left in regulation.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Montreal   Ottawa
Rem Pitlick 2 Points Mark Kastelic 2
Rem Pitlick 2 Goals Mark Kastelic 2
Jake Evans 2 Assists Scott Sabourin 2
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals Alex Formenton 1
Carey Price .769 Save Percentage Anton Forsberg .917
Carey Price 20 Saves Anton Forsberg 44
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Montreal 48 4 0-4 5-5 27 36
Ottawa 26 6 0-5 4-4 25 23
Upcoming Games
  • Ottawa will play their next game at home against New Jersey. The Senators have a W/L % of .379 after a win and .375 after a loss.
  • Montreal will play their next game at home against Boston. The Canadiens have a W/L % of .250 after a win and .263 after a loss.