Ottawa Senators' Mika Zibanejad puts the puck past Montreal Canadiens' Peter Budaj during third period pre-season NHL hockey action in Ottawa on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2013.SEAN KILPATRICK/The Canadian Press
Bobby Ryan scored for Ottawa and also gave the Ottawa Senators a scare in their 5-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday.
Ryan left the game with just over five minutes remaining in the second period after a collision behind the net, but returned shortly after. However the Senators opted on the side of caution and kept him out of the lineup for the third period.
Cory Conacher, Clarke MacArthur, Milan Michalek and Mika Zibanejad also scored for Ottawa, while Andrew Hammond made 24 saves.
Magnus Nygren and Raphael Diaz scored for Montreal, while Peter Budaj faced 32 shots.
The Senators are 4-1 in preseason play, while the Canadiens are 2-3-1. The teams meet again Thursday in Montreal.
This was their first meeting since the Senators eliminated the Canadiens last spring in the playoffs.
Montreal opened the scoring as Nygren beat Hammond with a shot from just inside the blueline. Ottawa tied the game minutes later as Conacher fed a trailing MacArthur.
Ottawa ended the period with a 2-1 lead on Ryan's power play goal.
The Senators made it 3-1 on Michalek's goal as he managed to dig the puck out during a goal-mouth scramble and roofed it over Budaj.
Conacher made it 4-1 with a power play goal, while Zibanejad picked up his first of the preseason to make it 5-1.
Hammond made some of his best saves in the third despite allowing a weak goal glove side to Diaz.
Senators defenceman Patrick Wiercioch left the game with what appeared to be a leg injury late in the first period, but did return early in the second.
Notes: G Nathan Lawson was scheduled to start the game, but was injured in the warm-up forcing Andrew Hammond into action.