The Montreal Canadiens extended their winning streak to three games with a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday, ending Ottawa’s seven-game point streak. The win keeps Montreal firmly in playoff contention as the regular season progresses.
Juraj Slafkovsky opened the scoring for Montreal just 76 seconds into the game, capitalizing on a power play to notch his 24th goal of the season. The goal also established a new club record, as Slafkovsky recorded his 164th career point before turning 22, surpassing the previous mark held by Henri Richard.
After a back-and-forth battle that saw the score tied at 2-2, Russian forward Ivan Demidov broke the deadlock at 12:40 of the third period with the game-winning goal. Demidov became the second rookie this season, following Beckett Sennecke of Anaheim, to reach the 50-point milestone.
Jacob Fowler, who was making his first start since January 15th after being recalled from Laval of the American Hockey League, was named the first star of the game. The Canadiens’ netminder delivered a stellar performance, stopping 32 shots, including a crucial save in the final minute.
“It was a tough game after such a long break, but I think my previous starts in the NHL had me better prepared internally than when everything was still new,” Fowler said. “Now it was just about returning to a familiar environment, to a team I was already a part of. But I’m happy about that, as well as the win.”
With the victory, Montreal improves to 36-18-10 and sits fourth in the Eastern Conference. Ottawa falls to 27-26-4 and occupies the tenth position.
In a separate contest, Samuel Ersson of the Philadelphia Flyers also shone, earning the third star of the game after stopping 21 of 22 shots against the Washington Capitals.
Ryan Leonard gave Washington an early lead with a power-play goal late in the first period, but Philadelphia responded with four unanswered goals. Travis Konecny and Trevor Zegras scored in the second period to swing the momentum, while Jamie Drysdale and Owen Tippett – who recorded his 100th goal for the club – added insurance goals for the Flyers.
Washington, now 26-25-7, has lost four of its last five games, while Philadelphia continues to close the gap in the Eastern Conference standings.
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