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Canadiens battle Senators in opener of home-and-home series

Feb 8, 2007 - 4:14 PM Montreal (29-20-6) at Ottawa (30-22-3) 7:30 pm EST

OTTAWA (Ticker) -- The Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Canadiens will have two chances to battle for position in the Northeast Division this week.

Separated by only one point, the Senators host the Canadiens on Thursday in the opener of a home-and-home series.

Both squads have trailed first-place Buffalo for the entire season and look to improve their standing not only in the division but in the conference.

Montreal is second in the division with 64 points and Ottawa trails just behind with 63. The Canadiens and Senators are fourth and sixth in the conference, respectively.

However, Ottawa has struggled of late, dropping three of its last four contests, including Wednesday's 3-2 loss to Buffalo.

Dean McAmmond tallied and Ray Emery stopped 34 shots for the Senators, who have been limited to three goals or fewer in each of their last seven contests.

The Canadiens also look to rebound from a tough loss, a 2-1 setback against Carolina on Tuesday.

Alexei Kovalev scored the lone goal in defeat for the Canadiens, who could not muster much offense for the rest of the game.

Montreal has won three of the five meetings between the teams this season, including a 3-1 victory in the last matchup on January 29.