After Ivan Demidov tied the game late in regulation, teammate Alex Newhook scored on a breakaway 1:40 into overtime to lift the Montreal Canadiens past the visiting Ottawa Senators 4-3 on Saturday night.
Stepping in front of a pass at the blue line, Newhook surged alone into the Ottawa zone and rang the post past Linus Ullmark (23 saves) to give Montreal its third straight victory – all by 4-3 margins.
The Senators trailed 2-0 after one period, but Drake Batherson and Michael Amadio scored in the second to knot things entering the third.
Ottawa’s Tim Stutzle broke the tie on a racing backhander past Montreal netminder Sam Montembeault (14 saves) with 7:33 left in the period.
However, with 2:23 left in regulation, Demidov played give-and-go with Lane Hutson and converted from the slot to make it 3-3.
Montreal, 5-0 in overtime this season, had opened the scoring 7:05 into the contest. On the transition off a Montembeault save, Nick Suzuki sent the puck through the neutral zone, where Cole Caufield outraced the Senators defense for a breakaway chance that Ullmark initially stopped but pushed the puck over the goal line with his momentum for Caufield’s 10th goal.
Less than two minutes later, the Canadiens was up 2-0. On the night’s first power play, Suzuki backhanded the puck through the crease for Juraj Slafkovsky to bury for his sixth goal this season.
After Montreal’s Zack Bolduc failed on his breakaway attempt with 8:21 remaining in the second period, Ottawa broke through on the other end of the ice. Amid some net-front action, the puck hit the side of the Canadiens’ net — and in position for Batherson to convert.
Montreal had a chance to extend its lead, but Ullmark easily stopped Hutson’s penalty shot with 2:26 left in the middle frame. Ottawa, however, leveled the contest right before the second intermission.
Amadio’s goal with 9.8 seconds left in the second was initially waved off due to goaltender inference. However, the Senators challenged the call, and video review found enough evidence to overturn the on-ice decision.
Ottawa is 4-1-2 in its last seven contests. Montreal also won 4-3 in overtime in its previous game on Tuesday at Seattle, and 4-3 in regulation on Oct. 25 at Vancouver.
