-----------------------------
Montreal 0 0 0--0
Ottawa 0 2 2--4
-----------------------------
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: Robidas, Mon (tripping), 6:02;
Rachunek, Ott (holding stick), 6:51; Redden, Ott (tripping), 12:53;
Kilger, Mon (slashing), 18:47.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Ottawa, Bonk 16 (Zamuner, Alfredsson),
7:24. 2, Ottawa, Mceachern 21 (Dackell, Yashin), 14:26. Penalties: Emmons,
Ott (holding stick), 3:13; Rachunek, Ott (holding), 4:40.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Ottawa, Alfredsson 14 (power play) (Yashin,
Rachunek), 10:20. 4, Ottawa, Bonk 17 (Redden, Alfredsson), 18:53.
Penalties: T Linden, Mon (slashing), 9:34; Arvedson, Ott (high sticking),
11:09; Persson, Ott (tripping), 15:53.
Shots on goal:
---------------------------------
Montreal 6 8 11--25
Ottawa 15 10 8--33
---------------------------------
Power-play Conversions: Mon - 0 of 6, Ott - 1 of 3. Goalies: Montreal,
Hackett (33 shots, 29 saves; record: 4-9-2). Ottawa, Lalime (25, 25;
record: 24-13-4). A:18,500. Referees: Kimmerly, Marouelli. Linesmen:
Gauthier, Scapinello.
INDIVIDUAL PLAYER STATISTICS
Montreal Ottawa
G A +/- Shots G A +/- Shots
Belanger 0 0 even 0 Alfredsson 1 2 +2 4
Brisebois 0 0 -2 1 Arvedson 0 0 even 1
Darby 0 0 -1 4 Bonk 2 0 +2 4
Dykhuis 0 0 even 1 Dackell 0 1 +1 1
Kilger 0 0 -2 1 Emmons 0 0 even 0
Koivu 0 0 -2 2 Fisher 0 0 even 3
Laflamme 0 0 -1 0 Havlat 0 0 even 0
Landry 0 0 even 0 Hnidy 0 0 even 1
Markov 0 0 even 0 Hossa 0 0 even 4
Petrov 0 0 even 2 Mceachern 1 0 +1 3
Poulin 0 0 even 0 Persson 0 0 even 0
Robidas 0 0 -1 1 Phillips 0 0 even 1
Rucinsky 0 0 -2 3 Rachunek 0 1 +2 0
Souray 0 0 -2 5 Redden 0 1 +3 5
T Linden 0 0 even 2 Rivers 0 0 +1 0
Weinrich 0 0 -1 1 Roy 0 0 even 0
Witehall 0 0 -1 1 Yashin 0 2 +1 3
Zubrus 0 0 even 1 Zamuner 0 1 +2 3
Rivet Shoulder Salo Shoulder
Brunet Knee Injury York Toe Injury
Bouillon Ankle Injury Forbes Healthy
Ward Knee Injury
Odjick Wrist Injury
Savage Wrist Injury
J Lind Healthy
Asham Healthy
Game Story
OTTAWA (Ticker) -- After wins over a pair of the NHL's elite
teams, the Ottawa Senators avoided a letdown against the
last-place Montreal Canadiens.
Patrick Lalime tied a team record with his fifth shutout of the
season and Radek Bonk broke out of a slump with a pair of goals
as the Senators blanked the Canadiens, 4-0, for their fourth
straight victory.
Ottawa was coming off wins over New Jersey and Colorado but kept
rolling at the expense of the Canadiens, who produced precious
little offense and completed a miserable weekend.
Lalime tied Damian Rhodes' 1997-98 team record for shutouts in a
season. Two have come against Montreal. He stopped 25 saves on
Sunday for his career-best 24th win and third straight.
Hardly tested over the first two periods, Lalime made a lunging
glove save on Craig Darby's slap shot from the top of the left
faceoff circle with 11:15 left in the third. Off the ensuing
faceoff, he got a piece of Sheldon Souray's one-time blast from
the same spot and covered the rebound.
Lalime, who grew up a Canadiens' fan, improved to 8-2-1 lifetime
against them.
"It's an extra challenge to play against them," he said. "I
still follow how they are doing."
"The way Patrick has played has shown he's a No. 1 goalie,"
added Senators coach Jacques Martin. "This is his first year as
a No. 1 and he's continuing to progress."
Bonk had not scored in his previous eight games and was stopped
twice in the first period by Souray, who was covering up for
goaltender Jeff Hackett. But the Czech All-Star finally broke
through 7:24 into the second period to snap a scoreless tie.
While being taken down in the slot by defenseman Patrice
Brisebois, Ottawa's Rob Zamuner curled a brilliant pass to Bonk
at the right goalpost, where he buried the puck for his 16th
goal of the season.
Bonk struck again with 67 seconds left in the third period,
capping the Senators' fourth win in five meetings with the
Canadiens this season.
"I try to stay positive, even when I wasn't scoring," he said.
"I had a feeling where I said it has to go in, and tonight was
it. ... I was trying not to think too much about it and to just
play, and it's just what I did.""
In between, Shawn McEachern and Daniel Alfredsson scored for
Ottawa, which moved four points ahead of second-place
Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference.
"We've been playing very well. This is one of our best
sequences," Martin said. "Our forwards are helping out our
defense and our (special team) units have been outstanding."
The win could prove costly for Ottawa, which lost All-Star right
wing Marian Hossa to a right knee injury late in the third
period. The 22-year-old Slovakian left after a knee-to-knee
collision with Canadiens defenseman Christian LaFlamme and will
be re-evaluated on Monday.
Hackett turned aside 29 shots, but Montreal fell to 4-11-0-0
against Northeast Division foes. The Canadiens were trying to
match a season high with their third straight road win.
"Lalime played well and they played great to protect the lead.
They're playing well after wins against New Jersey and
Colorado," Montreal defenseman Eric Weinrich said. "We have to
do a better job, plain and simple."
The Canadiens have dropped three straight and were shut out for
the seventh time this season.