Ottawa Senators' Erik Karlsson (65) shoots the puck past Montreal Canadiens goalie Al Montoya (35) to beat the Canadiens 4-3 in shootout NHL action, in Ottawa on Saturday, October 15, 2016.FRED CHARTRAND/The Canadian Press
Erik Karlsson scored the shootout winner as the Ottawa Senators beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 on Saturday night to open the season with back-to-back wins.
Tom Pyatt, Ryan Dzingel and Zack Smith scored for the Senators (2-0-0) in regulation time. Craig Anderson made 21 saves.
Jeff Petry led the way with two goals, while Artturi Lehkonen scored his first NHL career goal for the Canadiens (1-0-1) as Al Montoya stopped 35 shots.
It was a boisterous crowd of 18,195 on hand at Canadian Tire Centre, but the Senators still fell short of a sellout despite hosting their biggest rival.
Pyatt tied the game 3-3 off a great pass from Dzingel to beat Montoya stick side with 2:33 remaining in the third period. That forced the extra period and set up Karlsson's shootout heroics.
Ottawa got exactly the start they were looking for jumping out to a 2-0 lead, outshooting Montreal 13-6 and had some solid work on the penalty kill.
Dzingel opened the scoring at the six-minute mark of the first with a great personal effort as he picked up his own rebound and beat Montoya short side.
The Senators made it 2-0 late in the first as Wideman's point shot deflected off Smith's skate.
Ottawa was fortunate in the second as Mark Stone, who suffered a concussion in training camp, appeared to take a shoulder to the head and went straight to the dressing room, but he returned quickly and finished the period.
Montreal cut the lead down to 2-1 with a power-play goal at the 15-minute mark of the second as Petry beat Anderson.
The Canadiens wasted no time in tying the game 2-2, as Lehkonen grabbed a loose puck and slide it through Anderson's legs before the period was three minutes old.
Ottawa couldn't capitalize on a two-man advantage for 1:49 as they failed to create any real scoring chances and the game stayed tied.
After trailing the entire game the Canadiens took the lead for the first time on Petry's second of the night midway through the third as his shot from inside the blue line beat a screened Anderson.
Notes: D Thomas Chabot and LW Matt Puempel were healthy scratches for the Senators for the second straight game. Montreal D Zach Redmond, D Mikhail Sergachev and C Brian Flynn were all a healthy scratch.