Canadiens continue losing streak with 6-4 defeat against Senators

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OTTAWA — The Canadiens’s race to the bottom continued Saturday with a 6-4 loss to the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Center.

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It was the eighth consecutive defeat for the Canadiens, and goaltender Carey Price’s record fell to 0-4 since returning from knee surgery last summer.

The Canadiens were forced to play catch-up after the Senators scored four unanswered goals, including three in the span of 68 seconds to take a 5-1 lead in the second period.

Austin Watson scored at the 44-second mark of the second period, and the floodgates opened when Parker Kelly scored at 6:43. Josh Norris collected his team-leading 34th goal at 7:15, and Mark Kastelic scored his second goal of the game — and second of his NHL career — at 7:50.

At that point, Price had given up five goals on 15 shots and, when Martin St. Louis called a timeout, it appeared the goaltender’s night might be over, but he remained in the game.

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The Canadiens’s offense enjoyed some success after the timeout. Rookie Cole Caufield scored his 20th goal on a feed from Mike Hoffman, and Joel Edmundson cut the Ottawa lead to two. But Alex Formenton scored on a short-handed breakaway with 1:55 left to play, giving Ottawa a 6-3 lead after two periods.

The Canadiens had a 16-6 edge in shots in the first period but went into the intermission tied 1-1.

The Senators scored on their first shot on goal. Price had trouble finding the puck after Chris Wideman blocked a shot by Scott Sabourin. The puck bounced into the air and landed at the far side where Kastelic took advantage of an opening to score his first NHL goal.

Montreal got that one back at 15:53 ​​in the first when Rem Pitlick was in front of the net to receive a feed from Jake Evans in the right corner. Anton Forsberg stopped Pitlick’s first try, but Pitlick buried the rebound. He later added his 15th goal of the season midway through the third period to make the final score respectable.

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The ongoing bad blood between these teams was on display on several occasions.

The Ottawa fans, who were unhappy with Brendan Gallagher’s disparaging comments about Tim Stützle after the last game between these teams, booed the Canadiens forward when he showed up for a ceremonial opening face-off and again whenever he touched the puck during the game.

If anything, the boos seemed to energize Gallagher, who had two scoring chances in the first period.

Gallagher took a minor penalty early in the second period for roughing Stützle. The Ottawa player seemed to be trying to sell the penalty when he went to the ice off a face-off, and Gallagher probably decided if he was going to get a penalty, he should make it good and he slammed Stützle into the boards.

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Michael Pezzetta, fresh off a two-game suspension, tangled with Kastelic after his first goal, and there was a melee late in the period which resulted in three minor penalties and 10-minute misconducts for Formenton and Alexander Romanov, who gave his English a workout as he carried on a spirited conversation with Formenton as they headed to the dressing room.

There were chants of “Guy, Guy” when the Senators presented a video tribute to the late Guy Lafleur prior to the game. The Hockey Hall of Famer died Friday after a two-year battle with lung cancer.

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