After dominating the Florida Panthers on Saturday night, the Montreal Canadiens will press on with their quest for a playoff spot by taking on the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night. Montreal’s nearest geographical rival has become its most significant rival full-stop over the years, according to Arber Xhekaj. The gritty defenseman made his name in the league in a pre-season fight against the young Sens, and the number of times both teams have met has fuelled the intense rivalry.
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On Tuesday night, with both teams trying to secure their ticket to the Spring dance, meaning we should be in for a real battle. Martin St-Louis has already confirmed Samuel Montembeault will be in net. The Canadiens’ starter has a 2-3-0 record against Ottawa, with a 3.06 goals-against average and a .893 save percentage. As for backup Jakub Dobes, he’s never taken on the divisional rival.
As for the Sens, Linus Ullmark has had the lion’s share of the work so far this season, but he doesn’t have a great track record against the Habs, he’s 3-3-0 with a 3.44 GAA and a .869 SP. As for Anton Forsberg, he has an amazing 6-0-0 record when facing the Canadiens along with a 2.62 GAA and a .924 SP. Given the importance of the game, it will be interesting to see if Ottawa decides to go with the undefeated goaltender.
The Canadiens have won the first two meetings between the two teams this season, but Ottawa has won eight of the last 10 games. Still, this season, the Habs have a 9-3 edge in scoring over their rival.
Practice was intense at the Bell Centre on Monday morning, Xhekaj and Mike Pezzetta had an altercation, but gloves weren’t dropped. Asked about the incident, St-Louis agreed its better to see too much intensity than not enough. Still, they added it’s possible to have the right amount of intensity without that kind of incident.
Xhekaj and Pezzetta made up minutes later and went out to dinner last night as showed on the latter's Instagram account, proving they had buried the proverbial hatchet.
Michael Pezzetta & Arber Xhekaj are BFFs ♥️ pic.twitter.com/STuyfBcp1Y
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) March 18, 2025
Brendan Gallagher has been the most productive Canadiens against the Sens for a few years; the alternate captain has 26 points in 46 games, including two points in the Habs’ 5-2 win over Ottawa last month. Captain Nick Suzuki has 18 points in 27 games, while Patrik Laine has 15 points in 14 games.
On the other side, Claude Giroux has got quite the history against the Habs with 38 points in 49 games, while captain Brady Tkachuk has 27 points in 29 games. Drake Batherson rounds up the top three with 24 points in 26 games.
This won’t be an easy duel for the Canadiens. The Senators have a 7-2-1 record in their last 10 games and have won their last 6. They are getting close enough to smell the playoffs. They have a 5-point lead over the New York Rangers in the first wild card spot. Meanwhile, the Canadiens have a 7-1-2 record and are still outside of the playoff position looking in. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM, and it promises to be the kind of game you shouldn’t miss.
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