Montreal Canadiens

Four Takeaways from Senators’ 3-2 Win Over the Canadiens

The Ottawa Senators beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 last night. What were the three key takeaways from the game?

by
Old Prof
December 14, 2022

The Ottawa Senators won their third straight game when they beat the Montreal Canadiens by a score of 3-2 last night. The Senators are on a bit of a roll. Last night’s win was the team’s seventh win in the past 10 games. They’ve put together a 7-2-1 record in those games.

The Senators got the first three goals of the game – all in the second period – when Shane Pinto, Drake Batherson, and Brady Tkachuk scored in succession. The Canadiens came roaring back by scoring two goals in the third period – by Kirby Dach and Christian Dvorak.

Still, the Senators held on to win the game. It was their third straight win. In their last game, the Canadiens had beaten the Calgary Flames in a shootout on Monday by a score of 2-1. However, with last night’s loss, the Canadiens have now lost five of its last eight games, with a record of 3-4-1 in those games.

In this post, I’ll look at the key takeaways from the game.

Takeaway One: Drake Batherson’s Point Streak Is Now Six Games

Drake Batherson was especially dangerous with the man advantage last night. He collected two points during last night’s game with a goal and an assist. Batherson’s first goal put the Senators up by a score of 2-0 early in the second period. Not much more than two minutes later, he added a helper on Brady Tkachuk’s goal that eventually turned out to be the game-winner.

That's a #Sens WWWIN‼️#GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/7kYKssGdhO
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) December 15, 2022

In the past 10 games, Batherson has scored three goals and added nine assists. That includes jumping his point-scoring streak to six games in a row. On the season, the former Cape Breton Screaming Eagles’ junior player has scored eight goals and added 18 assists (for 26 points) in the 29 games he’s played.

Takeaway Two: Alex DeBrincat Stretches His Point-Scoring Streak to Seven Games

Alex DeBrincat registered three second-period assists to help push his Senators’ team to a win last night. As it turned out, the Senators needed all three of the goals DeBrincat assisted on to hold onto their win.

With those assists, DeBrincat extended his point-scoring streak to seven games in a row. Given that DeBrincat’s shooting percentage this season is an all-time low at 8.7 percent, there’s every reason to believe he’s going to continue to roll. Senators’ fans can only imagine what DeBrincat’s numbers might be if he came close to his career shooting percentage average of 14.9 percent.

Takeaway Three: Brady Tkachuk Scores Game-Winner vs. Habs

Senators’ captain Brady Tkachuk also registered two power-play points last night, when he scored a goal and added a helper. In a quid pro quo move, Tkachuk and Batherson assisted on each other’s second-period goals. First, it was Tkachuk’s chance to help, then Batherson returned the favor just over two minutes later.

Brady Tkachuk Upper Deck Ottawa Senators

Tkachuk has never had a season where he’s averaged a point a game. However, he’s well on his way this season with 13 goals and 20 assists (for 33 points) in the 29 games he’s played.

The 23-year-old Tkachuk is really rounding into form as an elite power forward. He’s been especially effective on the power play. Last night he picked up his fifth power-play goal.

Every game he plays he brings a mixture of solid offense and tough-as-nails physical play. He’s growing into one of the best forwards in the NHL.

Takeaway Four: Canadiens’ Goalie Sam Montembeault Plays Well But Loses

It’s hard to blame Sam Montembeault for the loss to the Senators last night. On the game, the 26-year-old Quebec native stopped all but three of the 31 shots he faced in last night’s 3-2 loss to the Senators.

During the second period, Montembeault gave up three goals in less than seven minutes. However, the first two were scored on power plays. That’s a tough assignment. During the third period, Montembeault held the fort but the Canadiens just couldn’t find that third goal to push the game to the extra session.

On the season, Montembeault’s record is a solid 5-3-2, with a goals-against-average of 2.98 and a save percentage of .908. Last season he won eight games, and this season he’s on track to win almost 20. He’s playing well in the net for the Canadiens.