Ottawa Senators centre Rourke Chartier (left) and defenceman Jacob Bernard-Docker send Montreal Canadiens left wing Juraj Slafkovsky to the ice as goaltender Joonas Korpisalo watches the loose puck
during first period NHL action, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
OTTAWA – Tim Stutzle had a goal and two assists to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 6-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.
Brady Tkachuk, Rourke Chartier, Vladimir Tarasenko and Mathieu Joseph also scored, while Parker Kelly added an empty-net goal for the Senators (16-24-0). Joonas Korpisalo stopped 21 shots.
Ottawa won for just the second time in its last eight games (2-6-0).
Cole Caufield and Michael Pezzetta scored for the Canadiens (19-19-7), who were coming off a 3-2 win against New Jersey on Wednesday night.
Cayden Primeau, making his first start since Jan. 10, made 32 saves.
Montreal, playing its ninth back-to-back, has struggled this season on the tail end of those back-to-backs with a 1-8-0 record this season.
Leading 4-1 to open the third, the Senators didn’t take long to make this one look ugly.
After a turnover at centre ice, Stutzle broke in and made a nice drop pass to Joseph for his seventh of the season.
Kelly added his empty-netter when the Canadiens pulled Primeau with over seven minutes remaining to have the extra-man advantage during a four-on-four.
Pezzetta made it 6-2 by winning a battle for the puck in front late in the third.
Chartier extended the Senators lead midway through the period after jumping on a Bernard-Docker rebound for his second of the season.
The Senators took a 4-1 lead with just over one minute remaining in the second period off a nice passing play that concluded with Tarasenko scoring his 11th of the season.
Ottawa opened the scoring 8:40 into the first when Ridly Greig made a stretch pass to Tkachuk, who wristed a shot far side.
Stutzle made it 2-0 by breaking in on a 2-on-1 and beating Primeau for his first goal in 11 games.
Caufield cut the lead in half at 13:25 when his shot bounced in off Korpisalo’s glove and floated across the goal line.
NOTES
Travis Hamonic was a healthy scratch for the Senators … Josh Norris missed his fourth straight game with a lower body injury … D Johnathan Kovacevic was a healthy scratch for Montreal.
UP NEXT
Ottawa hosts the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.
Montreal heads to Boston on Saturday to play the Bruins.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 18, 2024.
