The Montreal Canadiens headed into the Canadian Tire Centre to take on the Ottawa Senators, without the services of their starting goaltender. Though Carey Price was still sidelined with the flu, Jeff Petry drew into the lineup after recovering from a minor knee injury, and rookie Mikhail Sergachev was scratched to make room.
It was a chippy affair early on, as both the Canadiens and Senators focused on physical play in the opening minutes of the opening frame. The undisciplined Senators would head to box first, when Marc Method was sent off for interfering with Torrey Mitchell less than five minutes into the game.