Canadiens score 4 in 3rd. beat Senators again 5-2

Shea Weber scored the tiebreaking goal in Montreal's four-goal third period and the Canadiens rallied for 5-2 win over Ottawa on Saturday night, beating the Senators for the third time in 12 days.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Matthew Peca each had a goal and an assist, and Paul Byron and Jonathan Drouin also scored for the Canadiens. Carey Price stopped 16 shots to win his fifth straight.

Colin White and Mikkel Boedker scored for the Senators, who were coming off a 4-2 win against Detroit the previous night. Mike McKenna, 35, started in place of Craig Anderson and finished with 42 saves.

Ottawa Senators left wing Mikkel Boedker (89) celebrates with teammate Mark Stone after scoring against the Montreal Canadiens during second-period NHL hockey game action in Montreal, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018. (Graham HughesThe Canadian Press via AP)

Each of Montreal's recent wins against Ottawa have been by identical 5-2 scores.

Kotkaniemi tied it 2-2 at 2:06 of the third as his wrist shot rang off the iron, then hit McKenna in the back and trickled across the goal line.

Montreal appeared to take the lead when Phillip Danault put the puck behind McKenna, but the goal was waived off after Artturi Lehkonen was called for embellishment seconds before. A loud chorus of boos rained down on the Senators, and referees, for the rest of the period.

Ottawa Senators center Colin White (36) scores against Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price during first-period NHL hockey game action in Montreal, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018. (Graham HughesThe Canadian Press via AP)

Those boos turned into deafening cheers when Weber put the Canadiens ahead just past the midpoint of the period with aa powerful snap shot from the left faceoff dot for his fourth.

Byron made it 4-2 with 6 1/2 minutes left when he redirected Kotkaniemi's shot past McKenna. Drouin sealed it with an empty-netter nearly four minutes later.

With his second goal in as many games, Peca got the Canadiens on the scoreboard at 3:39 of the first.

Ottawa Senators right wing Drake Batherson (79) is stopped by Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price during first-period NHL hockey game action in Montreal, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018. (Graham HughesThe Canadian Press via AP)

Montreal's lead was extremely short-lived, with White tying it 20 seconds later with his ninth. It came seconds after Brady Tkachuk appeared to trip Price with his stick, and the Canadiens challenged the goal for goaltender interference but the call on the ice stood.

Heavily outworked in the second, the Senators scored on their first shot of the period at 9:11. Confusion between Jordie Benn and Noah Juulsen behind their own net led to Boedker's fourth.

NOTES: The Senators dropped to 2-4-1 in their past seven games. ... Canadiens coach Claude Julien earned his 600th career victory. ... Price improved to 25-9-5 all-time versus Ottawa.

Ottawa Senators goaltender Mike McKenna looks back at the puck after Montreal Canadiens' Matthew Peca scored during first-period NHL hockey game action in Montreal, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018. (Graham HughesThe Canadian Press via AP)

UP NEXT

Senators: Host Nashville on Monday night.

Canadiens: Host Boston on Monday night.

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Montreal Canadiens right wing Andrew Shaw (65) collides with Ottawa Senators left wing Tom Pyatt (10) during first-period NHL hockey game action in Montreal, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018. (Graham HughesThe Canadian Press via AP)

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Former Chicago Fire coach Raphael Wicky was hired Monday as coach of Major League Soccer's Sporting Kansas City.

Wicky agreed to a 2 1/2-year contract that runs through the 2027-28 season, the first for MLS under a summer-through-spring calendar that matches most European leagues.

Peter Vermes, who had coached the team since 2009, left last March after KC lost five of its first six games. Kerry Zavagnin took over as interim coach and KC wound up last among 15 teams in the Western Conference with 28 points, finishing with seven wins, 20 losses and seven ties.

Wicky, 48, made 75 appearances for Switzerland from 1996 to 2008. He managed Basel from 2017-18, then coached the U.S. at the 2019 Under-17 World Cup, where the Americans finished last in their group.

He took over the Fire for 2020 and '21, then coached Young Boys in Switzerland from June 2022 until March 2024, winning the 2023 Swiss league title.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

FILE - Young Boys' head coach Raphael Wicky watches during the group G Champions League soccer match between RB Leipzig and Young Boys Bern at the Red Bull arena stadium in Leipzig, Germany, Dec. 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)