A visit from their Eastern Canadian rival might provide some needed confidence to help the Montreal Canadiens rebound from an ugly defeat.
Following an otherwise strong road swing, the Canadiens look to continue their recent success against the struggling Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.
Montreal opened 10-3-2 before enduring an 0-4-1 slide. The Canadiens followed that skid with three straight victories, including back-to-back road wins over Utah and Vegas, before concluding that three-game trip with a lopsided 7-2 loss at Colorado on Saturday.
With a rivalry game awaiting, the Canadiens plan to regroup and potentially get back to their winning form.
“We felt confident coming (into Saturday),” Montreal’s Josh Anderson told NHL.com. “It’s on us as players to be harder to play against.”
That’s certainly been the case of late against the Senators. In a series that is traditionally physical and usually chippy, Montreal totaled 21 goals while winning four of the last five versus Ottawa.
Cole Caufield paired a goal with an assist and Nick Suzuki added two helpers when the Canadiens outlasted the visiting Senators 4-3 in overtime on Nov. 1. That matchup featured two fights and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by Montreal’s Joe Veleno.
Caufield, who boasts a seven-game point streak (two goals, six assists), has registered 11 goals and 14 points in 15 career games against the Senators. Suzuki has six goals and 22 points in 30 career matchups with Ottawa.
Ottawa opened its season-long seven-game road stretch with wins over Anaheim and San Jose but has since gone 1-3-0 after being roughed up in a 6-1 loss at Dallas on Sunday. Jake Sanderson’s goal 8:36 into the second period for the Senators tied things up, but the Stars scored five unanswered.
“It’s one of those games where you have to turn the page and get ready for the next one,” said Senators forward Ridly Greig, who returned to the lineup after missing five games for an undisclosed reason.
“It’s the end of a road trip here, so we got to find some legs for the next one.”
Sanderson became the sixth defenseman in Ottawa history to record 20 points in 25 or fewer games, according to NHL.com.
Senators star Brady Tkachuk was held without a point Sunday in his second game back from missing 20 with a thumb injury. Having Tkachuk dressed for this matchup should give Ottawa some confidence considering he has 13 goals and 27 points in 30 career games versus Montreal.
Goaltender Linus Ullmark matched a season high by yielding all six goals on 26 shots faced Sunday. He made 23 saves in the November loss at Montreal.
Backup Leevi Merilainen (.874 save percentage) lost his last two starts for Ottawa.
Ottawa is 0-2-1 at Montreal since winning four in a row there.
Montreal netminders Jakub Dobes and Sam Montembeault have a combined .877 save percentage while each starting 12 games this season. Dobes has never faced the Senators, while Montembeault stopped 14 of 17 shots faced against them last month.
