OTTAWA - Paul Byron and Alexander Radulov scored in the shootout to give the Montreal Canadiens a 4-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night in the first half of the teams' home-and-home series.

Andrew Shaw, Phillip Danault and Brendan Gallagher scored in regulation for Montreal, and Carey Price finished with 28 saves. Montreal extended its lead in the Atlantic Division to two points over second-place Ottawa.

The teams meet again Sunday at Montreal.

Derick Brassard, Ryan Dzingel and Erik Karlsson scored for the Senators. Craig Anderson, who had missed the past two games with a lower-body injury, stopped 29 shots.

There had been some debate in the morning as to who would start in goal for the Senators as it remained questionable whether Anderson was fit to play.

The Senators had a chance to win in overtime when Max Pacioretty took a penalty, but were unable to capitalize on the power play.

Trailing 2-1 to start the third, the Canadiens scored twice within 31 seconds.

Danault tied the game as he was able to beat Anderson through the legs at the 6:15 mark - it was Montreal's first shot of the period despite having just come off a power play. Then, Gallagher gave the Canadiens the lead, beating Anderson over the shoulder from a sharp angle.

With just under five minutes remaining Karlsson tied the game with a shot from the point.

After 40 minutes the Senators held a 2-1 lead after scoring twice in a span of 76 seconds.

Montreal opened the scoring at the two-minute mark of the second period after a defensive breakdown by Ottawa that allowed Danault to find Shaw all alone at the side of the net.

The Canadiens took advantage of the momentum and held the edge in play until the Senators tied things with a power-play goal with 7:24 to go in the period as Kyle Turris found Brassard streaking through the slot and was able to beat Price stick side.

Just over a minute later, Dzingel gave the Senators the lead as he battled for the puck at the side of the net and was able to squeeze it behind Price.

NOTES: Ottawa D Mark Borowiecki was back in the lineup after missing the last four games with a lower-body injury. ... Senators RW Mark Stone remains sidelined with a lower-body injury, missing his fourth straight game. ... Montreal D Alexei Emelin, LW Andreas Martinsen and RW Michael McCarron were healthy scratches.

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