Montreal, Canada

Craig Anderson stopped 33 shots as the Ottawa Senators advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 6-1 rout of the injury-depleted Montreal Canadiens in Game 5 at Bell Centre.

Cory Conacher scored two goals while Zack Smith, Kyle Turris, Daniel Alfredsson and Erik Condra added a goal each for the Senators, who won the franchise first series since reaching the 2007 Stanley Cup Final.

The series win would have not been possible if not for Anderson's outstanding play, stopping 171 of 180 shots in the five games against the Canadiens.

P.K. Subban scored the lone goal while backup netminder Peter Budaj tallied 23 saves in his first playoff start for the Canadiens, who played without starting goaltender Carey Price, captain Brian Gionta, center Lars Eller and grinders Brandon Prust and Ryan White.

Determined to extend their season, the Canadiens came out strong, hitting five shots on goal against Anderson but they came up empty handed as the Senators netminder finished the first period with 15 saves.

The Senators had an easier time against Budaj, putting their first point at 2:17 when Zach Smith recovered a Matt Kassian miss and buried the puck into the net.

Five minutes later, Conacher scored his second of the series with a tap-in goal at 12:26 for a 2-0 lead.

Subban scored on a power play with 14.9 seconds left in the first, but that was as close as the Canadiens would get.

Turris scored his third goal of the series at 11:29 of the second to make it 3-1 before Alfredsson, Conacher and Condra scored in the third to complete the rout.

Despite the early exit, the future looks promising for the Canadiens, who went from last in the Eastern Conference to No. 1 in the Northeast Division, thanks to changes introduced by general manager Marc Bergevin and coach Michel Therrien.

 

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Craig Anderson Stops 33 Shots as Senators Advance to 2nd Round