CANADIENS AT SENATORS

Here are five things you should know about the Canadiens-Senators game at TD Place Saturday (7 p.m., CBC, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio), by Pat Hickey.

1 Winning records on the line Both teams have winning records outdoors, but the Canadiens have a longer history of braving the elements. Montreal defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in the inaugural Heritage Classic at Commonwealth Stadium in 2003. In 2011, the Canadiens ventured to McMahon Stadium in Calgary and lost 4-0 to the Flames and they ran their outdoor record to 2-1 with a 5-1 victory over the Boston Bruins at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., on New Year’s Day in 2016. The Senators are playing outdoors for only the second time in their history. The Senators travelled to Vancouver in 2014 and beat the Canucks 4-2. 2 The matchup

This is the third of four games between these Atlantic Division rivals and the Canadiens boast a 2-0 edge. Montreal embarrassed the Senators at home on Oct. 30, winning 8-3, and followed that up with a 2-1 win at the Bell Centre on Nov. 29. Both teams are coming off wins, but the Canadiens are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games, while Ottawa is 2-7-1. Montreal is only two points behind Boston in the race for third place in the division, but the Bruins have played three fewer games. The Senators trail Montreal by five points, but the race is closer because Ottawa holds two games in hand. 3 Same old story

The Canadiens snapped a three-game losing streak Thursday with a 2-1 overtime win over the New Jersey Devils at the Bell Centre. The good news is Carey Price did what he does best, stopping 31 shots after Stefan Noesen scored on the Devils’ first shot. The bad news is the Canadiens continued to struggle offensively and managed only two goals on 36 shots. Andrew Shaw scored his eighth goal of the season, which ties him with Max Pacioretty, a four-time 30-goal scorer who has only one goal in his last 14 games. Pacioretty has taken 43 shots during that stretch for a shooting percentage of 2.3 per cent.

4 Specialty items

The Canadiens rank 25th on the penalty kill, but they came up big Thursday night as they killed off three New Jersey power plays, including a 5-on-3 advantage for 65 seconds. The Canadiens haven’t allowed a 5-on-3 goal this season. It was a different story for the power play, which had gone 5-for-11 over the previous five games and had climbed to 20th in the NHL statistics. Montreal had three power plays against New Jersey and failed to get a shot on goal and fell into a tie for No. 21 in the rankings. The Devils managed three shots while short-handed and Price had to make his biggest save of the night when Nico Hischier had a short-handed breakaway.

5 The other guys

Things haven’t gone well for the Senators since the trade that sent Kyle Turris to Nashville. His replacement, Matt Duchene, has two goals and three assists and is minus-9 in 16 games with Ottawa. Mark Stone leads the offence with 14 goals and 27 points, while Mike Hoffman has nine goals and 22 points. Erik Karlsson, a two-time Norris Trophy winner, has only one goal and a minus-18 rating. That’s one reason he has been mentioned in trade rumours lately. But if he is dealt, it will be more likely because the Senators are struggling at the gate and cash-strapped owner Eugene Melnyk can’t afford to keep him.