Senators beat the Canadiens 5-2 to prevent Montreal from clinching a playoff spot Friday

OTTAWA, Ontario -- — Shane Pinto scored twice and the Ottawa Senators prevented Montreal from clinching a playoff spot Friday night, beating the Canadiens 5-2.

Ridly Greig had a goal and an assist, and Drake Batherson and Dylan Cozens also scored for playoff-bound Ottawa. Linus Ullmark made 20 saves.

Nick Suzuki and Christian Dvorak scored for Montreal, and Sam Montembeault stopped 28 shots.

The Canadiens hold the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. They needed a regulation win to wrap up a playoff spot Friday.

The Senators avoided a season sweep at the hands of the Canadiens, who were riding a six-game winning streak.

Takeaways

Senators: Got off to a solid start and didn’t let up.

Canadiens: Struggled to catch up after falling behind early.

Key moment

Ottawa held Montreal to just four shots in the third period.

Key stat

Jake Sanderson picked up his 100th career NHL assist with a helper on Ottawa’s third goal.

Up next

The Canadiens are at Toronto on Saturday night. The Senators host Philadelphia on Sunday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl