The Montreal Canadiens continued their dream streak by beating the Ottawa Senators 2-1 in front of a divided crowd at the Canadian Tire Center on Saturday night.
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Fans of the CH were numerous in the Ontario city to celebrate the fifth consecutive victory of the team of the hour in the National Hockey League. This is the first time since December 2017 that the Habs have managed to line up so many victories.
Another looking forward to this game was goalkeeper Andrew Hammond, who faced the club that gave him his first chance in the Bettman Tour.
The duel between the two rivals quickly became one of masked men. The “Hamburglar” won his second start with CH by making 26 saves out of 27 throws. Hammond had the support of his teammates, who threw themselves in front of the opposing shots with energy.
Matt Murray was very good despite the backhand with 30 parries. Mike Hoffman could also have a few nightmares thinking about the prowess at his expense of the double Stanley Cup winner. In fact, the Ontarian was only foiled by one man: Artturi Lehkonen.
Well positioned in the enclave, the Finn had to do it twice to beat Murray at the end of the first period. Lehkonen added to it in the next engagement by taking advantage of a bouncing puck to surprise the goalkeeper with a shot from the top of the slot.
Colin White was the Senators’ lone scorer in his first game of the season. The 25-year-old center had been sidelined for a long time due to offseason shoulder surgery.
Defenders Thomas Chabot and Nikita Zaitsev were absent, with the home side posting on Twitter that they were both ill.
The Canadiens will continue their five-game Canadian tour by facing the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.