MONTREAL (AP) -- Jeff Hackett was ready from the start -- even if the rest of the Montreal Canadiens weren't.

Hackett made 45 saves and Yanic Perreault scored twice to lead Montreal to a 5-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night.

Craig Rivet, Richard Zednik and Patrice Brisebois also scored for the Canadiens, who got their first home win in five games despite being outshot 48-21.

''He's been really solid since the beginning of the season, and tonight, during the first two periods, he's the one that kept us in the game,'' Perreault said of Hackett.

Hackett, who took over for NHL MVP Jose Theodore midway through Thursday's 6-2 loss in Philadelphia, remained undefeated in three starts this season.

''We had a tough practice yesterday and I knew it was going to be a tough start to the game,'' Hackett said. ''We were a little bit sluggish in the third against Philly so I knew I had to be sharp -- I had to be ready.''

Martin Havlat, Daniel Alfredsson and Wade Redden scored for Ottawa, which trailed 1-0 after the first despite outshooting Montreal 23-5 in the period.

''We were sitting on the bench saying that we couldn't believe we were losing,'' Marian Hossa said. ''We just outplayed them in the first two periods so bad but sometimes the goalie plays awesome for them and there's nothing you can do about it. I think he won the game for them, that's for sure. There was no question about it.''

Rivet opened the scoring 3:36 in with a slap shot from the point that beat Senators goalie Patrick Lalime for a power-play goal.

Hackett was busy through the rest of the period as Ottawa failed to score despite putting together several good scoring chances.

Senators defenseman Zdeno Chara hit the outside of the right post with just less than 7 minutes left after driving between Zednik and Montreal defenseman Patrick Traverse.

Hackett stood his ground and stayed up to block Hossa's breakaway chance moments later after the Ottawa right wing pulled up in an attempt to flip the puck in.

''I had good speed so I slowed down and waited for him to make the first move, but he just stood there, so I had to shoot,'' Hossa said. ''He made a great save.''

Jody Hull failed to score on another breakaway chance for Ottawa midway through the second as Hackett kicked out his left leg to stop a low shot.

Havlat finally broke through with a power-play goal 13:52 into the second as he scored on Ottawa's 31st shot off a goal-mouth scramble.

The Senators were outshooting Montreal 33-10 when Zednik restored the Canadiens' one-goal lead with his fourth of the season with 44 seconds left in the period.

''They didn't put up a great effort the first two,'' Alfredsson said. ''I think we definitely outplayed them and he gave them a chance to win. They scored on some of their chances, especially on the power play, and that was the difference.''

Perreault made it 3-1 with an unassisted goal 4:32 into the third and Brisebois increased Montreal's lead to three with his second of the season at 6:04.

Alfredsson scored his fourth goal at 9:11 to draw Ottawa to 4-2.

Redden cut the lead with 2:21 remaining with a power-play goal, but Perreault got his second of the game at 18:39.

Game notes
Lalime, who has started each of Ottawa's six games, allowed more than two goals for the first time this season. ... The Senators called a timeout following Brisebois' goal. ... LW Mariusz Czerkawski was a healthy scratch for Montreal, ending his consecutive games played streak at 222.