The Canadian couldn't close the door to one of his favorites.

Drake Batherson scored in a shootout and the Ottawa Senators defeated the Montreal team 5-4 on Saturday night at the Canadian Tire Centre.

Batherson was the only player who moved the strings in the shootout. He scored with a precise shot from the side of the glove.

The Canadian squandered four one-goal leads and ultimately suffered his ninth consecutive defeat against the Senators, albeit the first in a tiebreaker in this period.

Cole Caufield scored two goals, surpassing his career high of 27 goals for the season. Mike Matheson and Newhook were each credited with a goal and an assist for the Canadian (30-36-14). David Savard collected two assists and Cayden Primeau stopped 40 shots.

Brady Tkachuk had two goals and an assist for the Senators (36-40-4). Shane Pinto and Thomas Chabot also found the back of the net, while Batherson, Claude Giroux and Jake Sanderson collected two, two and three assists, respectively. Joonas Korpisalo made 21 saves.

The Senators lost forward Mark Kastelic early in the first period. He was hit in the side of the head by a shot from Johnathan Kovacevic.

Forward Jesse Ylönen was back in the Canadian lineup after missing the last four games. Tanner Pearson gave him the lead.

The Canadian will play his final two games of the season against the Red Wings on Monday in Detroit and on Tuesday in Montreal.

After signing his rookie contract with the Canadian on Friday, defenseman Lane Hutson will join his new teammates on Sunday in Detroit.

The cat and the mouse

The Canadian scored the first goal 9:11 into the first period. Matheson thwarted Korpisalo with a beautiful feint during a shorthanded breakaway attempt.

Tkachuk responded with 6:52 left in the first period. He blocked a shot from Sanderson from the blue line and scored on his own return.

Canadiens head coach Martin St-Louis disputed the goal, believing that Tkachuk had interfered with Primeau. NHL video officials disagreed with St. Louis.

Caufield gave the Canadians a 2-1 lead 1:37 into the second period. He took advantage of a comeback after a point shot from Jayden Struble.

About a minute later, the 23-year-old American almost scored again. After receiving a cross-ice pass from Juraj Slafkovsky, he tried twice, but the puck traveled along the goal line behind Korpisalo before being cleared by defenseman Jakob Chychrun.

Pinto tied the game 2-2 on the power play at 8:36. Giroux joined him and scored a one-timer.

Caufield came back on the power play with 6:55 left in the second period. He scored with a precise shot into the top corner of Korpisalo's side of the shield.

Tkachuk emulated his rival by scoring his second goal of the game, again on the power play, 47 seconds into the third period. He received a pass at the mouth of the net and then scored with a backhand shot.

Both goalkeepers saved the tie thanks to good saves. Korpisalo particularly stood out thanks to the direct shots from Josh Anderson and Jake Evans. Primeau, for his part, frustrated Ridley Greig.

Newhook needed a lucky jumper to give the Canadian the lead back with 4:11 left. His throw to Joel Armia deflected off Chychrun's skate before crossing the goal line.

However, Chabot brought everyone back to square one with 65 seconds left in regulation time after Korpisalo was replaced by another attacker. The Quebec defender installed in the slot deflected a shot from Batherson into the top of the net.

Nick Suzuki had the best chance to score in overtime, but the Canadian captain couldn't beat Korpisalo.

Batherson ultimately played the hero in the shootout.

To watch in the video