Tkachuk scores first goal as Senators end road trip with ‘massive’ win over Canadiens – Brandon Sun

MONTREAL — Brady Tkachuk loves being the villain at the Bell Centre.

The Ottawa Senators captain famously—or infamously—threw up the gloves for the United States in three bouts in nine seconds against Canada at the 4 Nations last February.

On Tuesday, he scored his first goal of the season and jeered the crowd as the Senators beat the Canadiens 5-2 to complete a seven-game season road trip.

“Huge victory,” Tkachuk said. “Games like this are four-point swings. And usually big games like this come after the bye week (later in the season), but with how close everything is, it's important in early December.”

“The last game of the road trip we wanted to get a record over .500 and then it would be a successful trip. It was a great game from absolutely everyone on the team.”

Tkachuk, who missed 20 games with a thumb injury, scored for the first time in six games this season.

The six-foot-four, 226-pound winger capped the safety net with a snap shot past Sam Montembeault at 12:43 of the third period, raised his arms to celebrate with a Senators fan along the glass and pushed his teammates in excitement.

Canadiens fans, meanwhile, filled the building with jeers, both because of Tkachuk's goal and because of the delayed penalty to Brendan Gallagher that preceded it.

“I don’t know if they’re booing me or the play behind me,” Tkachuk. “But yeah, it’s always nice when you hear that crowd screaming.”

Drake Batherson, Jake Sanderson and Artem Zub – thanks to Tkachuk's brilliant behind-the-back pass – also scored as Ottawa (13-9-4) snapped a two-game skid that included a dismal 6-1 loss to Dallas on Sunday.

Ottawa, with 30 points, also overtook Montreal for second place in the Atlantic. The Canadiens fell out of the playoff picture.

Senators coach Travis Green praised his team's performance at 5-on-5 as Ottawa's relentless forecheck overwhelmed the opposition on a night where the Canadiens lacked effort.

“Really good teamwork,” Green said. “Our 5-on-5 play was excellent today. I like the way we played away from the puck. I like the way we chased the puck. It's a good game.”

“We've talked about what our mindset needs to be after we've lost two games in a row, playing a team we're one point behind. At this time of year, that's probably as close to a playoff-type game as you can get.”

PROTECTION AGAINST ATTACK

In addition to the goals from Sanderson and Zub, Jordan Spence and Tyler Kleven each had two assists, and Ottawa's blue line contributed six points on the night.

“Honestly, I thought it was probably one of our d-core’s best games of the season,” Sanderson said. “We were moving the puck out of the zone, getting pucks out really clean.”

Sanderson took a shot from the point, drove to the net and beat Montembeault with a backhand to give the Senators a 3-1 lead in the second.

“We had a pre-scout — just throw the puck to the net and get dirty with it,” he said.

“UNACCEPTABLE”

While the Senators celebrated a hard-fought victory on the road, the Canadiens (13-9-3) berated themselves for poor defensive play.

Montembeault looked shaky, missing some big rebounds, but the skaters in front of him often watched as Ottawa attacked the crease with abandon.

“It’s just unacceptable,” forward Cole Caufield said. “Our whole D-zone today was, you know, a lack of effort or a lack of willingness to work, but you know (I'm) tired of losing to one-on-one battles in the D-zone. I mean, you've got to find your guy and win that battle.

“Most of their goals are a result of our mistakes and our problems with not picking guys up and that's unacceptable… it better be a one-off goal. It takes a lot more effort in this room and we have to prove that, especially at home.”

A minute after Sanderson's goal, Batherson took another free rebound and accidentally flicked the puck into an open net while Montreal's defense stood still.

“I'm disappointed with the way our team defended tonight,” coach Martin St. Louis said. “The other team defended much better than us. We lost a lot of battles and we weren't there defensively.”

The Canadiens will play again on Wednesday night against the Winnipeg Jets.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2025.