Prior to Game One of the Montreal/Ottawa first-round playoff series, there was much speculation about the goaltending matchup: the veteran superstar Carey Price against the rookie phenom Andrew Hammond. Given all that talk, few would have predicted the final score of this game. The much-anticipated pitcher’s duel devolved into a fireworks display. The teams combined for six goals in a surprising second period, most of it coming in an action-packed five-minute span in the middle of the frame. Canadiens 
rookie Brian Flynn scored a goal and added two assists to pace the Canadiens to a 4-3 victory.
The game began much as advertised; a tightly contested, physical battle with few scoring opportunities. Through the first period, the Senators held a 9-8 advantage in shots on goal. There was only one goal scored, and it wasn’t done in conventional fashion. Ottawa defenseman Milan Michalek got credit for the goal, but it was Montreal defenseman Andrei Markov who put it in the net. A Michalek dump-in took a strange bounce off the back boards and trickled to the front of the net. Markov, caught by surprise, tried to clear the puck but partially fanned on the attempt and swept it between Price’s legs into his own goal.
The second period began much as the first did, but the goaltending duel gave way to an offensive explosion midway through the frame. Montreal stole the lead from Ottawa with two goals in a span of 15 seconds. Torrey Mitchell scooped up a loose puck behind the Senators net and beat Hammond to the post with a wraparound shot at 7:53.
Then Tomas Plekanec beat Senators defenseman Cody Ceci to a loose puck in the neutral zone, setting up a 2-on-1 rush into the Ottawa zone. Plekanec elected to shoot and beat Hammond with a hard wrist shot at 8:08, giving the Canadiens a 2-1 lead.
Then the game, which had already been pretty chippy, took an ugly turn.
Despite 3 goals against, Carey Price had 30 saves in win over Sens – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban took an overhand slash at the arm of Ottawa forward Mark Stone. Stone was injured on the play, so Subban was assessed a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct at the 8:23 mark, resulting in what would be an eventful Senators power play.
“It was definitely a slashing penalty, but from our side I don’t think it deserved a five minute (major),” Habs coach Michel Therrien said. “But I leave that to the discretion of the referees. One thing’s for sure: We lacked discipline in the second period. I didn’t like the two penalties we took after taking the lead. We’ll have to be more disciplined. It could have hurt us, but we got away with it.”
The Senators had a different view of the slash.
“I think he was getting targeted,” Senators left wing Clarke MacArthur said. “That wasn’t the first one he took. That was a lumberjack slash. He took a few good ones before that, just noticing from my point of view. Those things happen, and they called the five and we’ll see what happens from here.”
Kyle Turris tied the game for the Senators with a wrist shot under the crossbar that had to be reviewed before the goal was allowed to stand. The replay showed that the shot had indeed found the pipe in the back of the net and the goal evened the score at 10:36.
While still killing the major power play, Canadiens forward Brian Flynn forced a turnover and sent Lars Eller in on a breakaway. Eller didn’t miss and gave Montreal a 3-2 lead at 11:42.
Mika Zibanejad put home a rebound at 12:36 to cap off the Subban power play and once again tie the game.
Montreal rookie Brian Flynn walked out from the corner and tucked a wrist shot between Hammond’s legs at 17:17 of the second, giving the Canadiens a 4-3 lead with the eventual game-winner.
The teams combined for 36 shots on goal in the second period’s offensive explosion, the same number tallied in the first and third periods combined.
The third period was more of the expected defensive battle, with Montreal managing only twelve shots on goal to Ottawa’s seven. Price held the fort with some acrobatic saves in another tightly contested period and helped preserve Montreal’s victory.
There was a minor skirmish after the final buzzer that resulted in 42 of the game’s 63 minutes in penalties. It’s clear that there is no love lost between these two teams. Some bad blood remains from their contentious 2013 series in which Ottawa eliminated Montreal in the first round.
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