Senators at Canadiens
After getting wiped out in back-to-back home games, the Ottawa Senators face the daunting task of trying to end their mini-slide when they visit the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night. Not only do the Canadiens have a league-best 30 points, they have yet to lose in regulation in a dozen games at the Bell Centre.
Montreal avoided a fourth consecutive defeat with a 2-1 victory over Toronto at home to boost its home record to 11-0-1. The Canadiens raced out to a 13-1-1 start this season, and one of the losses was a 4-3 setback in a shootout at Ottawa on Oct. 15. The Senators have scored the second-fewest goals in the Eastern Conference and were limited to one in each of their last two games, but they did unload 40 shots on goal in Saturday's 4-1 loss to Florida. "We did a lot of good things, and we have to build off it," Ottawa forward Chris Neil told reporters. "If you play like that, you're going to win more games than you're going to lose."
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, TSN5 (Ottawa), Sportsnet East, RDS2 (Montreal)
ABOUT THE SENATORS (10-7-1): Ottawa's roster shuffling continued with the demotion of goaltender Andrew Hammond to Binghamton of the American Hockey League and the loss of former first-round pick Matt Puempel, who was claimed off waivers by the New York Rangers. Mike Hoffman, who scored 56 goals over the last two seasons, could return after missing two games with a groin injury while Bobby Ryan (finger) is day-to-day. Veteran netminder Craig Anderson will get the start versus Montreal.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (14-3-2): Although captain Max Pacioretty has scored twice in the past five games, he has tallied only four times -- hardly the numbers expected of a player who amassed 106 games over the previous three seasons. Coach Michel Therrien juggled his lines at Monday's practice, putting Torrey Mitchell between Pacioretty and Andrew Shaw. "We're going to have some great chemistry," Shaw told reporters. "We felt good out there today, and we're going to carry that into tomorrow's game."
OVERTIME
1. Canadiens G Carey Price, who has yet to lose in regulation this season, is 17-7-4 against the Senators.
2. Ottawa is 2-for-32 on the power play this month but has killed off 31 consecutive penalties.
3. Canadiens F Alex Galchenyuk, who has a team-high 19 points, has scored one goal in 17 games versus Ottawa.