Montreal Canadiens Beat Ottawa Senators 2-0 To Advance To 2nd Round

The Montreal Canadiens beat the Ottawa Senators, 2-0, on April 26 to advance to the second round of the 2015 NHL Playoffs.

The Montreal Canadiens beat the Ottawa Senators, 2-0, on April 26 to advance to the second of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

Montreal goaltender Carey Price earned the fantastic shutout win with 43 saves while Brendan Gallagher and Max Pacioretty each scored for the Canadiens, per The Canadian Press. With the win, Montreal wins the series against Ottawa, 4-2.

FINAL: @CanadiensMTL (2) – @Senators (0)
Recap: http://t.co/L4FBNzUqRI
MTL wins series 4-2
#MTLvsOTT #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/7gGD5yPCov— NHL (@NHL) April 27, 2015

Despite the Senators outshooting the Canadiens, 43-20, Price showed why he is a top candidate not only for the Vezina Trophy but also the Most Valuable Player Award. According toThe Canadian Press update, his sterling performance resulted in Ottawa’s first and only shutout loss of the 2014-15 NHL season.

The Canadiens actually recorded the game’s first six shots, but the Senators outshot them 16-3 in the second period before a crowd of 20,500 at the Canadian Tire Centre, per The Canadian Press. 

Montreal eventually had to fend off the Senators’ late series rally, having led 3-0 before losing Games 4 and 5 before finally putting them away. The Canadiens have made consecutive Eastern Conference semifinal appearances for the first time in 22 years ,per The Canadian Press. 

Canadiens right wing Brendan Gallagher batted a puck which was in mid-air to score the game’s first goal at the 13:26 mark of the first period. It was his first of the 2015 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, per Shauna Denis of the team’s official website. 

Gallagher told The Canadian Press how he was able to score that goal:

“It hit my arm and I felt it go that way so I spun around, found the puck and was fortunate to put it in. You don’t plan on whacking them out of the air all the time but I was able to

catch the goalie (the Senator’s Craig Anderson out of his position.”

The Habs are heading home with a ticket to Round 2 and a few lessons to carry them even deeper.http://t.co/mPjJRbvgcy pic.twitter.com/zQSe5MVmfw— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 27, 2015

He then discussed the hard-fought win with Denis in the game’s aftermath:

“It’s so tightly played out there. When you play a team over and over again, you get to know each other so well so it becomes tougher and tougher to score goals. 

“You need to get those bounces and you work for them. I don’t believe in luck; I believe you create your own luck. You just have to keep working and eventualy it’ll go your way.”

Max Pacioretty added an insurance empty-netter with less than a second to go to finish off the scoring, per Denis. 

On the other hand, Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban gave Price credit for the series-clinching win, per The Canadian Press:

“Price stepped up and he was the difference. 

“I know some people thought it would be pretty easy for us to get the fourth win, but we knew they were a capable team that battled hard all season to get into the playoffs. I like the way we had to win this series.

Carey Price makes a clutch save at the end of the game to deny Sens forward Mika Zibanejad.
WATCH-> http://t.co/1PgRrDogTf
#GoHabsGo— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 27, 2015

“We deserved it. We worked for it. I thought we had some bounces early in the series. We didn’t get them as the series went on but today we stuck to the plan regardless of what happened. And when you have Carey Price back there, it makes everything a lot easier.”

Senators head coach Dave Anderson told The Canadian Press said he’s proud of how his team competed in spite of the loss:

“This team has been a real treat,” he said. “We got beat by a pretty good hockey club and, when we get over it, we’ll feel pretty good about what we accomplished here.”

The Canadiens will now square off against the winner of the Detroit Red Wings vs. Tampa Bay Lightning first-round series, which the former leads, 3-2, per The Canadian Press.  

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