Brady Tkachuk waited a long time for his first goal of the 2025-26 NHL season, but it was worth waiting for.
The captain's third-period marker turned out to be the dagger, as the Senators defeated the rival Montreal Canadiens 5–2 at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night. Tkachuk has only played in six of Ottawa's 26 games this season, thanks to an October thumb surgery. It was a crucial victory, nipping a two-game losing slide in the bud.
After sluggish performances in St. Louis and Dallas, the Senators looked a lot better on Tuesday, led by Tkachuk, Fabian Zetterlund, and Tyler Kleven. They each had two-point efforts to help the Senators improve to 13–9–4, snap a two-game losing skid, and leapfrog the Canadiens in the jammed-up Atlantic Division standings. It was the perfect response and finally brought an end to the club’s seven-game road trip.
Zetterlund now has five points in his last six games, and played this one with a heavy heart.
“To get that one was nice; it’s for my grandma,” Zetterlund told the media. “She passed away a couple of days ago. So yeah, it was nice. It was for her.”
Zetterlund’s first-period goal was huge, ringing one in off the post from distance after a smooth low-to-high pass from Tyler Kleven. Montreal fans barely had time to settle back into their seats after Juraj Slafkovský had opened the scoring for the Canadiens on the power play just four minutes into the game. Zetterlund rained on their parade, scoring 24 seconds later while the Habs' goal was still being announced.
Then the Senators’ defensemen went to work, as both Artem Zub and Jake Sanderson looked like slick power forwards driving to the net and getting rewarded for it.
Zub beat Sam Montembeault with a nice shot after being left all alone in front of Montreal’s net, and taking a nice pass from Tkachuk. Sanderson’s goal came just under six minutes into the second. After taking a pass from Michael Amadio, Sanderson cut hard to the net and beat Montembeault with a low backhand to make it 3–1.
Just over a minute later, Kleven, who had one of his best games as a Senator, spotted Drake Batherson going to the net and hit him with a hard pass. Batherson redirected it on goal, then toe-dragged the rebound away from Montembeault and slipped it past him to make it 4–1.
Nick Suzuki’s eighth goal of the year on the power play, less than two minutes later, brought the Canadiens back within two.
But then Tkachuk put it away in the third. With Canadiens fans screaming for a tripping call on Nick Jensen behind the play on Brendan Gallagher, Tkachuk took a nice pass from Tim Stützle and ripped one past Montembeault to make it 5–2, proving there's no issue with that thumb.
Linus Ullmark made 19 saves for the Senators, who played well and earned a convincing win despite getting little help from their special teams. The penalty kill surrendered two goals on three attempts, and the power play went 0-for-2.
"A real good team effort," head coach Travis Green told the media after the game. "Our five-on-five game was excellent tonight. I like how we played away from the puck. I like how we hounded the puck. It was a good game."
David Perron played in his 1,200th NHL game and picked up an assist. Senators tough guy Kurtis MacDermid dressed, but for the second straight game, Montreal's tough guy, Arber Xhekaj, showed no interest. With McDermid policing things, the evening remained shenanigan-free.
The Senators are back at it on Thursday night, finally with a chance to enjoy some home cooking after a solid 4–3 road trip. They’ll open a three-game homestand against the New York Rangers at Canadian Tire Centre.
By Steve Warne
The Hockey News-Ottawa