OTTAWA — More pressure will be on the Ottawa Senators when they host the Montreal Canadiens for the second time in two days Thursday at Canadian Tire Centre.Not only will be trying to keep up with the pack Adidas Peter Budaj Jersey , but also to show that the corner they had appeared to turn isn’t going to lead them back to their sorry ways.The Senators (12-13-3) could have pulled into a tie for the second wildcard spot with a win in Montreal, but are now in danger of falling six points behind their arch rivals. Fortunately for them, the back-to-back set shifts to a venue where they’ve had much success. Their 9-4-2 home record is one of the best in the NHL.Article continues below ...The 5-2 loss at Bell Centre snapped the Senators winning streak at three games and also saw the return of the shoddy defensive play they were starting to get away from. During the three victories, they had only surrendered five goals. That was big for a team that have allowed more goals and shots against than any other in the league.On Tuesday they broke down in the second period, allowing the Canadiens three unanswered goals in a 3:39 span.“We weren’t quite ready to play right from the start,” center Zack Smith told the Ottawa Sun. “They were better and kept their foot on the grass. It’s only one game. We’re only a few days from paying our best hockey of the year.“We still have confidence … (Thursday) is a good opportunity and we have a lot to prove. The easy way to explain (Tuesday’s) game is that our effort level was not there, but we don’t have too many days to think about it.”Major obstacles will be in the Senators way as they attempt to get back on track. The Canadiens (13-10-5) will again turn to goalie Carey Price, who had some timely saves among the 28 he made against Ottawa earlier this week. Price has impressive career numbers against the Senators. Along with a 23-9-5 mark that includes three shutouts, he boasts a .922 save percentage and 2.32 goals against average versus Ottawa.Price will be making his sixth consecutive start on Thursday.“I think there’s no reason we can’t ride him,” coach Claude Julien told reporters, per Montreal Gazette.The Canadiens also hope to ride the offensive combination of Max Domi and Jonathan Drouin, who both had three points in the win over Ottawa.“Both of them are smart players, both of them are good playmakers and they see the ice real well,” Julien told the Gazette. “They also enjoy playing with each other. That’s more important than people think.”Rounding out Montreal’s new top line is a mucker, veteran winger Andrew Shaw, who is raving about the speed of his new linemates.“When they have the puck and they’re going, they’re great at making quick Adidas Matt Read Jersey , little plays or beating guys one-on-one,” Shaw told the Gazette. “Their compete level is pretty cool, too.”Craig Anderson, who made 35 saves in Montreal, will start in goal for the Senators. Against the Habs he has career numbers of 12-12-3 along with a .895 save percentage and a 3.20 GAA. PITTSBURGH (AP) — Phil Kessel scored a natural hat trick and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 on Thursday night.Vegas scored the first goal, and Kessel had the next three — with the final two coming on second-period breakaways. It was Kessel’s sixth career hat trick and first in four seasons with Pittsburgh. His last hat trick came Feb. 1, 2014, with Toronto.Jake Guentzel scored his third goal and Evgeni Malkin had three assists.Casey DeSmith stopped 35 shots in his first regular-season start for Pittsburgh. Starter Matt Murray is day-to-day with a concussion sustained Monday during practice.Reilly Smith scored his second of the season for Vegas and 100th career goal. Tomas Nosek also scored for Vegas, which lost its third straight and has opened the season with four losses in five games.MAPLE LEAFS 5, RED WINGS 3DETROIT (AP) — Auston Matthews scored twice for an NHL-leading nine goals — tying a league record after five games — and Toronto beat Detroit for its third straight victory.Matthews joined Alex Ovechkin, Patrick Marleau, Mario Lemieux and Mike Bossy as the players in league history to score nine times in the first five games.Morgan Rielly had a goal and an assist, giving him 11 points. Mitch Marner and Ron Hainsey also scored, and Frederik Andersen made 26 saves. Nick Jensen scored twice for Detroit and Dylan Larkin added a goal. Jimmy Howard had 30 stops.AVALANCHE 6, SABRES 1BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon scored twice to extend his season-opening goals streak to four games, and Colorado beat Buffalo.Mackinnon matched the Colorado franchise record for a goals streak to open a season Adidas Matt Hendricks Jersey , set by John Mitchell three years ago.Semyon Varlamov stopped 30 shots to improve to 3-0. Tyson Jost, Colin Wilson, Carl Soderberg and Alexander Kerfoot also scored, helping Colorado improve to 3-1 for the third straight season. Mikko Rantanen set up three goals and has six assists for the season.Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, the first overall draft pick this summer, got his first career point with an assist on Nathan Beaulieu’s goal.RANGERS 3, SHARKS 2, OTNEW YORK (AP) — Brady Skjei buried a wrist shot 37 seconds into overtime to lift New York past San Jose for coach David Quinn’s first career victory.Quinn was hired away from Boston University in May. New York had dropped his first three games in his first season as an NHL head coach.New York’s Brendan Smith tied it at 2 with 2:39 remaining in the third with a one-timer from the slot. Pavel Buchnevich set it up with a backhand pass from behind the net. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 41 shots and Brett Howden also scored for the Rangers. Aaron Dell made 24 saves, and Marcus Sorensen and Joonas Donskoi scored in San Jose’s third stop of a four-game trip.KINGS 3, CANADIENS 0MONTREAL (AP) — Jack Campbell made 40 saves for his first career shutout and Los Angeles spoiled Montreal’s home opener.Jeff Carter had a goal and assist, and Adrian Kempe and Michael Armadio also scored.Campbell made his eighth career NHL start, getting into action with starter Jonathan Quick day-to-day after sustaining a lower-body injury in practice Sunday. Carey Price stopped 26 shots for the Canadiens.BRUINS 3, OILERS 1BOSTON (AP) — Brad Marchand and Joakim Nordstrom scored in a 36-second span in the first period and Jaroslav Halak stopped 25 shots to help Boston beat Edmonton.David Pastrnak had his fourth goal of the season, and Patrice Bergeron added an empty-netter in the final minute. Connor McDavid scored his first goal of the season for Edmonton, and Cam Talbot had 28 saves. The Oilers were playing only their second game of the season. They lost to New Jersey on Saturday in Sweden.PREDATORS 3, JETS 0NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Pekka Rinne made 29 saves for his 52nd career shutout Adidas Eric Fehr Jersey , leading Nashville past Winnipeg.Ryan Hartman had a goal and an assist and Roman Josi and Ryan Johansen also scored. Connor Hellebuyck made 27 saves for the Jets.The Central Division’s top two teams from a season ago met for the first time since the Jets ousted the Predators in a seven-game series in the second round of the playoffs.WILD 4, BLACKHAWKS 3, OTST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Ryan Suter tied it with 23 seconds left in the third period and Jason Zucker scored in overtime, rallying Minnesota past Chicago.Zucker had two goals and an assist, including a breakaway backhander 3:25 into overtime. Zach Parise sent a long pass across the red line to a streaking Zucker, whose shot went between Cam Ward’s pads to give the Wild their first win of the season.Eric Staal also scored, and Devan Dubnyk made 27 saves for the Wild. Alex DeBrincat had two goals and an assist for the Blackhawks, and Dominik Kahun scored his first NHL goal.BLUES 5, FLAMES 3ST. LOUIS (AP) — David Perron scored his fourth career hat trick, Alexander Steen had a goal and an assist, and St. Louis beat Calgary for its first victory of the season.Joel Edmundson also scored, Brayden Schenn had three assists, and Jake Allen made 31 saves.James Neal, Derek Ryan and Mikael Backlund scored for Calgary. Mike Smith was pulled following the second period after allowing five goals on 24 shots.BLUE JACKETS 5, PANTHERS 4SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Cam Atkinson scored with 2:46 left to lift Columbus past Florida.With traffic in front of the net Adidas Greg Pateryn Jersey , Atkinson swept the puck past goalie James Reimer, who was flat on his back during the play. The Panthers challenged for goalie interference, but the goal stood.Artemi Panarin had a goal and two assists, Boone Jenner, Anthony Duclair and Zach Werenski also scored, and Joonas Korpisalo stopped 37 shots. Evgenii Dadonov had a goal and two assists, and Aleksander Barkov, Nick Bjugstad and Troy Brouwer also scored for Florida. Reimer made 27 saves.DEVILS 6, CAPITALS 0NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Kyle Palmieri scored twice, Keith Kinkaid made 21 saves and New Jersey celebrated its home opener with the blowout victory over Stanley Cup champion Washington.Marcus Johansson, Blake Coleman, Jean-Sebastien Dea and Brian Boyle also scored. Kinkaid had his fifth career shutout.CANUCKS 4, LIGHTNING 1TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Elias Petterson and Brock Boeser scored 1:10 apart in the third period and Jake Virtanen and Markus Granlund added empty-net goals in Vancouver’s victory over Tampa Bay.Petterson scored his fourth goal in four games in his rookie season. Anders Nilsson made 33 saves in his season debut. Brayden Point scored the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves.