Hidden play: The Canadiens have a chance to outscore the Senators

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The rebuilding Canadiens weren't expected to make the playoffs this season, but the Ottawa Senators should have at least contended.

Both teams are out of the playoffs, with the Canadiens missing the postseason for the third time, while the Senators are out for the seventh year in a row. That should make Canadiens fans feel a little better.

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The teams met on Saturday night in Ottawa, with the Senators coming away with a 5-4 shootout win. The Canadiens have now lost nine games against the Senators since April 5, 2022.

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The Canadiens had a chance to overtake the Senators and move out of last place in the Atlantic Division standings. The Canadiens led 4-3 before Thomas Chabot left the game with Senators goaltender Joonas Korpisalo on the bench for an extra hitter with 1:05 left in the third period, then Drake Batterson scored the lone goal of the game for the win.

The Canadiens (30-36-14) now trail the Senators (36-40-4) by two points and both teams have two games left in the season.

Cole Caufield scored twice for the Canadiens, while Mike Matheson and Alex Newhook added singles. Jesse Ylonen, Caufield and Suzuki failed to score in the shootout.

Brady Tkachuk scored twice and Shane Pinto added one for the Senators.

Canada's Juraj Slafkowski was 13 when the Senators last made the playoffs in 2016-17.

Gol Caulfield: Caufield now has seven goals in his last seven games and has a career-high 27 goals on the season, surpassing his 26 goals in 46 games last season that required shoulder surgery.

Magic Mike: Matheson opened the scoring at 9:11 of the first period, and the Canadians were short-handed. It was Matheson's 11th goal of the season, matching his career high in 2021-22 with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

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Matheson also added his 51st touchdown pass of the season. His 62 points are the most by a Canadian defenseman since Andrei Markov's 12-52-64 in 2008-09.

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A hub can be: Tkachuk's two goals give him 37 career goals this season, two more than he had last season with the Senators.

Selected fourth overall by the Senators in the 2018 NHL Draft, Tkachuk now has 162 career goals. Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who the Canadiens picked one pick before the Senators took Tkachuk, has 63 career goals.

Kotkaniemi, now in his third season with the Carolina Hurricanes, has a big advantage over Tkachuk in another category. Kotkaniemi played in 58 playoff games, including 29 with the Canadiens, while Tkachuk did not play a single playoff game after playing 438 regular season games.

Buffalo Sabers guard Rasmus Dahlin, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft, has also never played in a playoff game. The Sabers are out of the playoffs for the 13th straight season. Sabers Jeff Skinner holds the NHL record for most regular season games (1,005) never played in the playoffs. Skinner spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Carolina Hurricanes before joining the Sabers in the 2018-19 season.

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A partner can be: Tkachuk led all NHL players under the age of 24 with 37 goals this season. Canadian captain Nick Suzuki is second with 33 goals.

Suzuki played in 32 playoff games with the Canadiens.

Newhook on the reel: With a goal and an assist for the Senators, Newhook is 2-6-8 in his last seven games. Despite missing 27 games with a major injury in late November, Newhook went 14-19-33 in 53 games, setting career highs in goals and points. Last season, he scored 14 goals in 82 games with the Avalanche.

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Anderson is not on the roll: Josh Anderson was sacked for the 60th time in 76 games this season.

Anderson is 9-10-19 on the season and has just one point (goal) in his last 18 games.

Finally, the frame: For the first time in 12 games, Canada's Raphael Harvey-Pinard found the back of the net, but he failed to score.

Harvey-Pinard is 1-8-9 in 43 games this season after posting 14-6-20 in 34 games last season.

Shooting gallery: It was a busy night for goalie Kayden Prayau as the Canadiens cruised to a 44-25 win. Three of the Senators' goals came on the power play.

It's the fifth time in 20 starts this season — and second straight — that Primeau has faced at least 40 batters. His record is now 8-9-2 with a 2.95 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage.

Jlonen is back in the lineup: Ylonen returned to the Canadiens lineup after being a healthy scratch for the previous four games, replacing Tanner Pearson. Jlonen missed a shot on goal in 9:29 of ice time. Jlonen has one point (goal) in his last 26 games and is 4-4-8 in 58 games this season.

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They said: “I thought we played a really good game,” Caufield said. “We gave ourselves some lead opportunities. Only a heavy goal of six-five. Fight till the end, I thought. Just a difficult result.”

“It was a good game,” Primau said. “They scored four (goals) with one man down. Your goalkeeper should be the best penalty taker. This is not good.'

Some statistics: As usual, Matheson led the Canadians in ice time with a score of 26:21. Defenseman David Savard had two assists. Caufield led the Canadiens with six tackles, while Anderson had eight. Michael Pezzetta had a rare game without a hit in his team's 7:48. Suzuki was 9-3 on faceoffs (75 percent).

What's next? The Canadiens play the Red Wings in Detroit on Monday night before finishing the season against the Red Wings on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.

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