Montreal Canadiens' P.K. Subban leaps onto teammates celebrating a goal by Francis Bouillon to beat the Ottawa Senators 5-4 during overtime period NHL hockey action Saturday, March 15, 2014 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
March 15, 2014 - 7:14 PM
MONTREAL - Francis Bouillon scored in overtime to give the Montreal Canadiens a dramatic 5-4 come-from-behind victory over the struggling Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
Lars Eller, Brian Gionta and David Desharnais scored late third-period goals for the Canadiens (36-25-7). Daniel Briere added another in the game's first minute.
Carey Price made 29 saves in his first NHL game since the Olympic break.
Jason Spezza, Zack Smith, Ales Hemsky and Clarke MacArthur scored for Ottawa (28-25-13), while Robin Lehner made 43 saves.
With the Sens up 4-1 in the third, the Canadiens scored three third period goals, including a final-second equalizer by Desharnais to force overtime.
The Canadiens went 3-4-1 and conceded 28 goals without Price, who was out with a lower-body injury.
With the win, Montreal ended a three-game slide. Ottawa has now lost five of its last seven games.
The Canadiens came flying out of the gate, putting one past Lehner on their third shot, 38 seconds inot the first period. Following a Tomas Plekanec face off win, Briere took advantage of lax defending by Erik Karlsson to walk to the front of the net and fire home his 12th of the year.
Spezza equalized against the run of play on the Sens' first shot of the game at 3:08, beating Price with a rocket of a slap shot into the top corner of the net. Spezza now has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his last six games.
Coming off back-to-back shutouts at the Sochi Games, the goal allowed was Price's first in more than 167 minutes of hockey.
The Canadiens outshot the Senators 17-4 in the first period.
Minutes after seeing one of its goals disallowed, Ottawa took a 2-1 lead at 17:10 of the second period when Smith scored his 11th of the year on a breakaway. Smith took a long stretch pass from Karlsson at the blue line, was stopped by Price, but scored on his own rebound.
Hemsky doubled their lead at 1:54 of the third, beating Price under the blocker for his seventh point in four games since being traded to the Senators. MacArthur made it 4-1 three minutes later.
Eller made a game of it late, scoring his first goal in his last 25 games at 16:38. Gionta added another less than minute later to keep the score close before Desharnais tied it up.
Notes: Lehner got the start for Ottawa in place of starter Craig Anderson (shoulder), who was injured in the third period of Monday's loss to the Nashville Predators. … Michael Bournival (concussion) missed his 10th consecutive game. … Ottawa wore their heritage jerseys. … Thomas Vanek has yet to score on 13 shots in four games since donning a Canadiens uniform. … The last time the Habs and Senators met, on Jan. 16, P.K. Subban was criticized for celebrating his overtime-winner with gusto. The two teams play once more this season, on April 4 in the nation's capital.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014