In Ottawa, Ilya Kovalchuk‘s strike with 22 seconds left in extra time sent the Montreal Canadiens to a 2-1 win over the Senators on Saturday.
The win snapped an eight-game skid for the Habs.
“I said in my head, ‘I’m going to try to shoot this one,'” Kovalchuk said “It’s good to get a first goal [with the Canadiens], for sure, especially in [overtime]. But I think the win is way more important because we snapped that eight-game losing streak, finally.”
Carey Price needed to make 41 saves to get the win.
“The first win after that many losses is never an easy one,” Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. “We’ll take it and hopefully we’ll build from that.”
Drake Batherson scored for the Senators.
“I remember barely touching it,” Batherson said. “And then I looked around and it was in the net. I thought [Senators forward Anthony Duclair] or someone had scored. The boys were all fired up and they said I scored. Probably the luckiest goal I’ve ever scored, but I’ll take it.”
Ottawa is 0-4-3 in their last seven.
“We played real hard,” Senators coach D.J. Smith said. “For a back-to-back, a little sluggish in the first, and then we really started to skate from there. We had some opportunities in the second period, pucks kind of bobbled on us. We had some opportunities in the third, Price made some big saves. And [Marcus Hogberg] was outstanding for us.”
Nick Suzuki potted the Habs’ regulation goal.
“He’s (Kovalchuk) been the ultimate pro. Tonight he made a couple nice passes there where we had some great scoring chances, scores the winning goal,” Julien said. “He’s respectful of his shift lengths, he’s respectful of how we want to play, so the guys look at a guy who’s been around for a long time, buying in. And he’s an easy guy to like.”
[WATCH: All Canadiens vs. Senators highlights]
Hogberg made 23 saves in the loss.
“Some nights it’s harder when you don’t get that many shots from the beginning,” Hogberg said. “You have to be ready all the time, be aware that the game can be quick.”
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