OTTAWA (Ticker) -- A goaltender is supposed to be the last line of defense. Against the Ottawa Senators, Jose Theodore often looked like the only defense for the Montreal Canadiens.
Theodore made 39 saves and Jan Bulis scored his second goal of the game with 7:34 remaining as the Canadiens escaped with a 3-2 triumph over the Senators.
Montreal continually had trouble with Ottawa's impressive team speed and again struggled against the Senators' power play. But Theodore repeatedly bailed out the Canadiens, avenging a pair of losses earlier this season in which he surrendered 11 goals.
"There's a lot of teams that win games because their goaltender is hot. That was the case for us tonight," Montreal coach Claude Julien said. "Our goaltender was outstanding and he gave us the chance to win."
Theodore was at his best in the second period, when Montreal was outshot, 18-3. At one point, All-Star Marian Hossa was able to circle the Canadiens' zone twice before Montreal was called for a penalty that led to defenseman Wade Redden's tying power-play tally.
"I'm impressed with their speed," Theodore said. "One time, Hossa got me dizzy out there, doing a circle. If you don't skate with them, they're going to create chances."
Bulis cashed in on a broken play to get his second game-winning goal of the season. Yanic Perreault centered from behind the net and Bulis got off a backhander while falling, snapping the puck into the top left corner of the net.
"I was by myself with the puck," Bulis said. "I tried to go high on him. The puck was in the air a little bit, so I just wanted to get a good shot."
After opening the season with a 14-game scoring drought, Bulis has three goals in his last four contests.
"It sure came at the right time," he said. "I don't think it's happened in a couple of years, scoring two goals on two shots."
Jason Spezza had the other goal for the Senators, who were denied a third straight win and fell to 2-4-2 in their last eight games.
"We had more shots and lots of chances. It's just that their goalie was good," Hossa said. "We just couldn't find that one goal to get the tie. Some nights, it's just like that."
Bulis opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal 8:42 into the first period and Donald Audette made it 2-0 just 36 seconds later.
"Scoring two goals in the first period is something we haven't been doing the last few weeks," Theodore said. "We've been losing 2-1 or tying 1-1 lately, so when we were up 3-2, I said to myself, 'You've got three goals, so we have to win.'"
"You've got to give credit to Theodore and the way he played," Redden said. "It's disappointing when you don't get the win. We had our chances, but one little breakdown makes it tough to take when, overall, we played so well."
