Claude Giroux had three points in the second period and led the Ottawa Senators to a 5-0 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Giroux scored his 18th and 19th goals of the season, after assisting on Alex DeBrincat’s 16th goal of the season in the first minute of the middle period.
Mathieu Joseph scored in an empty net with 1:26 left in the third period as the Senators ran out a penalty to Travis Hamonic.
After Samuel Montembeault regained his place in front of his net, Derick Brassard added a fifth goal for the Senators (23-23-3), less than 40 seconds after Joseph’s goal.
Meanwhile, goaltender Anton Forsberg blocked all 28 Canadian shots (20-26-4) and collected his second shutout of the season.
Montembeault stopped 31 shots.
The day after a convincing 6-2 victory at the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Senators signed a third straight victory, and they inflicted on the Habs a third straight loss.
The Canadian also suffered a fourth shutout this season, but head coach Martin St-Louis did not fall into complete negativity after this other setback.
“We had a good first (period). In the second, we received penalties. But I liked a big part of our game,” he said.
The Senators and the Canadiens meet Tuesday night at the Bell Centre. The two clubs will then make their last outing before the break of the star game.
As expected, Owen Beck made his NHL debut on Saturday night.
St-Louis had announced the news a few hours earlier.
The 18-year-old Ontarian was urgently recalled Friday night. He started the game in a trio completed by Christian Dvorak and Jesse Ylönen.
Beck played for just under 10 minutes and had no shots, but St. Louis was pleased with his first NHL outing.
“He played well. He looks very comfortable on the ice. I’m proud of the youngster. It’s promising, ”said the head coach of the tricolor first.
“He’s a hockey player. We saw it in training camp too. He’s a ‘kid’ with a good future ahead of him,” St-Louis later added.
As expected, Beck was returned to his junior club immediately after the encounter.
The Senators break away
After a split first period without too many impactful moments, the Senators exploded with three goals scored inside the first 10 minutes of the middle frame.
Giroux set up the first goal, DeBrincat’s, with a long lob from deep in his territory.
This lob, combined with the fall of defenseman Arber Xhekaj on the Senators’ blue line, allowed DeBrincat to escape two against one, along with Ridly Greig, against David Savard.
From the right flank, DeBrincat chose to shoot and beat Montembeault with a precise shot, to the right of the Canadian goalkeeper, from the 22nd second of play.
Giroux then struck twice in 93 seconds. He first hit the target at 7:59 on a numerical superiority by deflecting a pass from Greig when he had been forgotten at the mouth of the net, to the left of Montembeault.
He was then credited with his 19th goal of the season. Wanting to return the courtesy to Greig, Giroux saw his pass go against Xhekaj’s skate and deflect behind a Montembeault who could do nothing about it.
Despite the Senators’ backfire, the Canadiens outshot 16-15 during that span. Five of those shots were recorded during a minor penalty to Joseph, but Forsberg didn’t flinch.
In the third, however, the Canadian got just four shots, including the last three after St-Louis retired Montembeault in favor of a sixth forward.
“In the third, we had trouble hitting the net. […] The intentions were good. I would have liked to have had more shots in the third. Other than that, it’s not a game I hated,” repeated St-Louis.