Hackett shines as Canadiens down Senators

OTTAWA -- The Montreal Canadiens aren't about to get ahead of themselves.

Oleg Petrov scored two goals and added an assist Thursday night and Jeff Hackett made 37 saves to lead Montreal to a season-opening 6-4 win over the Ottawa Senators.

"Every time you get a good start, it builds your confidence," Petrov said. "But we're not looking 20 or 30 games down the road. The next game is always the most important."

The Canadiens won despite the absence of cancer-stricken team captain Saku Koivu, carrying over their momentum from a strong preseason.

Despite allowing just three goals and posting a 0.95 goals-against-average while Montreal won seven of nine exhibition games, Hackett put little emphasis on the team's preseason record.

"It's great to get wins in the preseason, but the more important thing is to get into good habits," Hackett said. "The reason we had such success was because a lot of guys did little things."

The Canadiens, who lost 40 games last season for just the second time in their history, jumped out to a 4-1 lead after two periods and then survived a late rally by Ottawa to spoil the Senators' home opener before a sold-out Corel Centre crowd of 18,500 fans.

Brian Savage, who had a goal and three assists, felt that taking the early lead was a key to the win.

"We didn't have it too often last year," Savage said. "The depth we added over the summer has really helped. Our power play clicked right from the start and gave us that confidence."

Yanic Perreault and Stephane Robidas added a goal and an assist each, and Chad Kilger also scored as Montreal improved to 5-4-3 in its last 12 season openers.

Perreault took Koivu's place between wingers Savage and Petrov as the line combined for nine points.

It was the first time since April 16, 1998, that the Canadiens won in Ottawa, going winless in eight games (0-7-1).

Radek Bonk scored twice, Steve Martins and Wade Redden scored once each and Daniel Alfredsson had two assists for the Senators, which beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 Wednesday night.

"We made too many mistakes on defense," Bonk said. "That's very uncharacteristic play for our team. We try to play solid defense. When you play the way we did tonight, you're not going to win. But we've had nine goals in our first two games, that's a solid offensive output. We just have to tighten up the defense."

It was a different story Thursday, however, as the Senators lost for the first time in their last six home openers (4-1-1). Montreal -- which opened the season three times against Ottawa, tying twice previously -- gave up three goals in the third period but still held on.

The Canadiens chased goalie Patrick Lalime after just two periods, scoring twice in each period on 15 shots. Jani Hurme played the third and stopped nine of 11 shots.

Petrov lifted a rebound over Lalime on the power play just 3:17 in.

Perreault made it 2-0 with about five minutes left in the first, walking out from the corner and slipping the puck in the near side.

After Bonk cut the lead in half early in the second, Robidas and Petrov scored within a three-minute span to seemingly put the game out of reach.

However, Martins and Bonk made it 4-3 before Kilger scored on a two-on-one break with less than eight minutes remaining. Redden brought Ottawa within 5-4 with two minutes remaining.

Savage added a late power-play goal.

Notes: Canadiens left winger Martin Rucinsky played in his 600th NHL game. Left winger Benoit Brunet was scratched from Montreal's lineup. ... Lalime played his 100th game for the Senators. ... Ottawa rookie right winger Chris Neil recorded his first NHL point with an assist on Martins' goal.