After having an entire week off between games, the Ottawa Senators were understandably very rusty on Thursday as they returned to action against the Montreal Canadiens. They looked incredibly disengaged, but they had a chance to make up for that as they were facing off against the Canadiens again on Saturday night.
Luckily for the Senators, they immediately got off to a great start, thanks in part to Brendan Gallagher. Gallagher took a double-minor high-sticking penalty just 28 seconds into the game, and Ottawa took advantage of the long powerplay. 14 seconds into the powerplay, Drake Batherson passed it down to Brady Tkachuk who was right by the net.