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Senators look to continue success against Canadiens

Mar 24, 2008 - 1:40 PM Ottawa (41-27-7) at Montreal (42-24-10) 7:30 pm EDT

MONTREAL (Ticker) - The chase for the Northeast Division title continues on Monday when the first-place Montreal Canadiens face the second-place Ottawa Senators.

The Canadiens, who lead the Pittsburgh Penguins by a point in the race for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, have a five-point lead over the Senators.

Currently in fifth place in the East, Ottawa needs to continue its recent dominance in the series if it wants to catch Montreal. The Senators have won five of the six meetings this season and eight of the last nine contests overall.

The Canadiens' current lead over the Ottawa is their largest of the season. Montreal is coming off consecutive wins over Boston to complete a sweep of the eight-game season series with the third-place Bruins.

"We need to get every point we can," Canadiens goalie Carey Price said.

The Senators had a 4-3 lead heading into the third period of Saturday's game with Toronto, but gave up two goals in a 41-second span on the way to a 5-4 loss.

"We know we can play better," Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson said. "If we want to win down the stretch and in the playoffs, we can't give up goals like that."

The line of left wing Dany Heatley, center Jason Spezza and Alfredsson at right wing have combined for 14 goals and 22 assists against Montreal this season. Goaltender Martin Gerber is 4-1 vs. the Canadiens with a 2.01 goals-against average.