Habs roar back after spotting Sens a field goal
Pacioretty notches hat trick as Canadiens score seven unanswered goals
OTTAWA — The Canadiens were outshot 15-4 in the second period, but they scored on two of those shots to break a 3-3 tie and they went on to beat the Ottawa Senators 7-4 Friday night at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Lars Eller gave the Canadiens their first lead when he banged home the rebound of a shot by Brian Gionta and Max Pacioretty scored his second goal of the game on a breakaway at 15:25. Pacioretty’s goal was unassisted, but Daniel Brière made it possible when he came out of the penalty box and lifted Patrick Wiercioch’s stick, allowing the puck to leave the Montreal zone. Getting down to business: The Canadiens spotted the Senators a 3-0 lead, but scored three goals to come out of the period with a 3-3 tie. Andrei Markov started the comeback when he threw the puck at the net from the corner and it got lost in Craig Anderson’s skates at 7:22. Mike Weaver scored his first goal since Feb. 22, 2012, with a shot from the blue line at 9:17. Pacioretty tied it up with his 36th goal of the season on a breakaway at 15:52. Shock treatment: It appeared Peter Budaj and the Canadiens were in for a long night when the Senators took a 3-0 lead before the game was six minutes old. Zack Smith scored the first of his two goals at 2:28, Ales Hemsky redirected Wiercioch’s shot from the point at 4:35 and Smith scored again as he combined with Mika Zibanejad on a 2-on-1 break at 5:50. Budaj finished the night with 38 saves to boost his record to 10-8-2. Anderson stopped 16 shots. Garbage time: Pacioretty completed his third hat trick of the season when he scored his 38th of the season at 1:09 of the third period and he assisted on David Desharnais’s 16th goal at 9:14. Zibanejad completed the scoring at 14:07. Subban benched again: Defenceman P.K. Subban found himself back in Michel Therrien’s doghouse. He was on the ice for the first two Ottawa goals and sat on the bench for the remainder of the first period. He returned to play a regular shift in the second period. They wuz robbed: The Senators had reason to be upset when referee Wes McCauley waved off an apparent Ottawa goal shortly after Eller gave the Canadiens the lead. He claimed there was incidental contact on the play, but the player who took Budaj out of the play was Weaver. What’s next: The Canadiens wrap up the regular season with three of their final four games at the Bell Centre, beginning with Saturday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings (7 p.m., CBC, RDS, TSN-690 Radio). The Canadiens are in Chicago Tuesday and then return home to face the Islanders Thursday and the Rangers Saturday.