Nick Suzuki’s tiebreaker with 4:37 remaining in regulation highlighted a five-goal third period for the Montreal Canadiens, who cooled off the visiting Ottawa Senators with a 6-3 victory on Tuesday night.
Lane Hutson and Josh Anderson scored tying goals in the third, before Suzuki was in the right spot amid a net-front scrum to break a 3-3 tie with his 18th point in 11 games.
Brendan Gallagher, who had two assists, and Anderson added empty-net goals for the Canadiens (33-27-7, 73 points), who are in the mix for a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference while amid an 8-1-2 stretch and winners of five straight at home.
Christian Dvorak had a goal with three assists for Montreal, which has won the first three meetings this season against the Senators (36-26-5, 77 points).
Veteran defenseman Travis Hamonic had a goal with an assist for Ottawa, which had won six in a row.
Montreal led 1-0 just 2:07 into the contest. Via some lengthy passing from David Savard and Gallagher, Dvorak found himself on a breakaway, when he went backhand-forehand to beat Ottawa’s Linus Ullmark (27 saves), who was without his stick on the play.
Ottawa tied things with 3:18 left in the first. Off an own-zone face-off, Drake Batherson got the puck and skated to the Canadiens’ end, where after surveying his options, sent a blistering snap shot by Sam Montembeault (22 saves).
The Senators then went ahead with 7:22 remaining in the second period. After Harmonic’s shot, Michael Amadio crashed the net and got enough of his stick to flip the puck in.
At 3:38 into the third, standout rookie Hutson got the puck off the draw, made a move, glided into the circle and rang the post over Ullmark’s glove.
Less than three minutes later, though, the 34-year-old Hamonic, whose most-recent goal came on Dec. 15, 2023, ripped a slap shot that Montembeault appeared to whiff on the save attempt for a 3-2 Ottawa lead.
But with 9:38 remaining in regulation, Montreal’s Alexandre Carrier sent the puck toward the net, where it made contact with Anderson, who then chipped it past Ullmark for 3-3.
Suzuki, Anderson and Gallagher accounted for the scoring the rest of the way.
