Karlsson scores winner as Sens edge Habs
MONTREAL -- Erik Karlsson scored the game-winning goal to lift the Ottawa Senators to a 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.
Mike Hoffman, Derick Brassard and Mike Stone also scored for the Senators (11-7-1), who have won both meetings against the Canadiens so far.
Shea Weber, Alexander Radulov and Alex Galchenyuk scored for Montreal (14-4-2), which lost for the first time in regulation at home.
Andrei Markov recorded three assists.
Goaltender Craig Anderson stopped 36 shots for Ottawa while Carey Price made 19 saves for the Canadiens.
The Senators fell behind for the 14th time in 19 games when Weber blasted a one-timer from the point on the power play just 26 seconds into the second period. The goal, his league-leading seventh with the man advantage, was the first power-play goal the Senators had allowed since Oct. 22, snapping a streak of 36 consecutive kills.
Ottawa tied it nearly five minutes later on a power play of their own when Hoffman, making his return after missing the previous two games with injury, wired one from the right circle, for his first goal in six games.
Radulov put Montreal back in front at 7:39 with a sensational effort. After Alex Galchenyuk fed him at the blue line, the winger drove along the right side and put the puck through Hoffman's legs before cutting into the crease area and sending it past Anderson.
Brassard's third of the season tied the game at 15:55. Brassard and Hoffman skated in on a 2-on-1 and after Price made the save on Hoffman's shot, it appeared the Canadiens' goaltender had denied Brassard on the rebound. A video review confirmed that the puck crossed the goal line, tying the game, 2-2.
The Canadiens' power play connected again 2:08 into the third period when Markov fed Galchenyuk at the top of the right circle for the one-timer.
Less than a minute later, Hoffman took advantage of Montreal's defensive miscues behind the net to send it to an uncovered Stone. It marked the first time in 13 games that Ottawa scored three goals in regulation or overtime.
The Senators took their first lead of the night at 5:37 when Karlsson's shot from the boards found its way past at screened Price, who allowed four goals in a game for the second time in his last three starts.
Canadiens defenseman Nathan Beaulieu took a shot to the neck area in the second period and did not return. The team announced he was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure.
NOTES: Montreal made one change to its lineup, inserting LW Daniel Carr in place of LW Charles Hudon. D Greg Pateryn also was a healthy scratch. ... Senators LW Bobby Ryan missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury. ... Ottawa backup G Mike Condon made his second return to Montreal in just over a month after doing so with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 18 in the Canadiens' home opener. ... Injured Canadiens LW Artturi Lehknonen, F Brian Flynn and D Zach Redmond all skated ahead of the team's morning skate but have yet to join the team for practice. ... The game was the second of five meetings between the two clubs, and the last until they next face off on March 18.