Ottawa @ Montreal preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 20, 2019 ) Ottawa 2, Montreal 1

The Montreal Canadiens have recovered nicely from an eight-game winless stretch with strong defense and will try to continue the trend when the Atlantic Division rival Ottawa Senators visit Wednesday night. The Canadiens were 0-5-3 during their prolonged slump, but allowed seven goals while winning three of the past four games after a 4-1 victory at Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

Carey Price has led the way with 83 saves on 87 shots during a three-game winning streak for Montreal, which scored three goals in the second period Tuesday before shutting the door to permit one for the second straight contest. The Canadiens have earned at least a point in the last six meetings (4-0-2), but dropped a 2-1 overtime decision against the Senators on Nov. 20 as Brady Tkachuk scored 38 seconds into overtime. Ottawa comes into this matchup off one of its best performances of the season as it knocked off Atlantic Division-leading Boston 5-2 on Monday with three points each from forwards Anthony Duclair and Chris Tierney for a second win in three contests after a five-game losing streak. “That was huge for us, especially against these guys. I think we had a strong showing,” Duclair told reporters. “All four lines were rolling and Anders (Nilsson) made some huge saves at key moments and kept us in the game. We were ready to go.”

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, RDS, Sportsnet

ABOUT THE SENATORS (13-17-1): Duclair has five goals and one assist over the past three games and is five tallies shy of his career high of 20 that he set in his first full NHL season with Arizona in 2015-16. “I’m getting a big opportunity here and probably the most ice time I’ve gotten in my career, so I don’t want to take that for granted,” Duclair told reporters. “I’m getting the confidence from the coaching staff and my teammates here, so I just want to continue doing that.” Tierney snapped a 21-game goal drought with his goal Monday and leading scorer Jean-Gabriel Pageau (23 points) scored his team-best 16th goal.

ABOUT THE CANADIENS (14-11-6): Right wing Brendan Gallagher has scored in all four contests during the team’s turnaround and is tied with defenseman Shea Weber (four points, four games) for second on the team with 25 points. Left wing Tomas Tatar had a goal to go along with an assist Tuesday to maintain his team lead with 27 points and center Phillip Danault recorded his fifth point in four games to push his season total to 24. Right wing Joel Armia scored his 11th goal against Pittsburgh to stay second on the team behind Gallagher (14) while center Max Domi extended his goal drought to eight contests.

OVERTIME

1. Nilsson ended a four-game losing streak with 38 saves Monday and will likely be in net Wednesday as G Craig Anderson (knee) is expected to be out at least a week.

2. Montreal C Jesperi Kotkaniemi (three goals, five points) missed his second straight game Tuesday because of a concussion and is day-to-day.

3. Ottawa D Thomas Chabot has an assist in four of his last five games and needs one point to reach 100 in his career.

PREDICTION: Canadiens 4, Senators 2