Not when Craig Anderson is guarding the goal.

Anderson made 48 saves, many of them spectacular, and the Ottawa Senators staged a third-period comeback to beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 in the opening game of the first playoff series between the geographic rivals.

The Canadiens set team playoff records with 27 shots in the second period and 50 overall. Wasn’t enough: Anderson outplayed Montreal goalie Carey Price, who stopped 27 shots at the other end.

“What can you say? Andy’s our MVP,” said defenseman Marc Methot, who scored the winning goal. “He’s a machine back there. He just keeps going and going. We’re lucky to have him in the net.”

The Canadiens will try to solve Anderson and the Senators in Game 2 on Friday night at the Bell Centre. But the hosts will be without one of their hottest forwards, center Lars Eller, who was wheeled off the ice on a stretcher bleeding heavily from the face and taken to hospital. He suffered a concussion, as well as fractures to his face and teeth, after an open-ice hit from Ottawa defenseman Eric Gryba.

Eller had taken an ill-considered pass up the middle from Raphael Diaz when he was flattened by Gryba with a hit the NHL is likely to review for further discipline. Gryba was given a major penalty for interference and a game misconduct.

“It was a hockey play,” said Ottawa coach Paul MacLean. “Our guy hit him, but player 61 (Diaz) is the guy to blame.”

“I can’t comment,” was all Montreal coach Michel Therrien said about the hit.

Brendan Gallagher scored during the resulting power play to put Montreal up 2-1. But the Senators’ league-best penalty killers then shut the door during a full two-minute, two-man advantage.

Jakob Silfverberg tied it with a shot that sailed between Price’s legs from the right circle 3:27 into the third period. Mathot swept a shot from the point into the top corner to put Ottawa ahead less than two minutes later.

Guillaume Latendresse, a former Canadien who was booed by most of the 21,273 in the seats, sealed the win with a goal that went in off his body as he drove to the net with 6:05 remaining.

Erik Karlsson scored in the first period for Ottawa, while Rene Bourque got one early in the second for Montreal.

“You just have to give your team an opportunity to stay in the game and win,” said Anderson, who led NHL goaltenders with a 1.69 goals-against average and a .941 save percentage this season, but likely won’t get the Vezina Trophy because he missed 20 games with an ankle injury.

“Montreal played a really good second period. They had a lot of momentum. Our penalty kill did a good job of finding a way to keep them to one goal and give us a chance to get back in the game. We went from having no momentum in the second and taking momentum back in the third.”

Therrien was impressed.

“We played a good game and we deserved a better result,” he said. “I’m proud of our team. We had 50 shots. We went to the net. But the story of the game was Anderson. He was extraordinary.”

Anderson was sharp as the Senators weathered a fierce Canadiens push in the first 10 minutes before Karlsson put on a show for the opening goal at 17:25.

The 2012 Norris Trophy winner, who returned late in the regular season from an injury to his Achilles tendon, skated through the neutral zone and worked a give-and-go with Kyle Turris, redirecting the return pass along the ice between Price’s pads.

Montreal tied the game when Bourque came out from behind the net and beat Anderson with a backhander under the crossbar on Montreal’s 34th shot of the game.

After the Gryba hit and with Ottawa down a man, Gallagher banged in Tomas Plekanec’s pass to put Montreal in the lead.

“I stepped up to make a hit. I kept my shoulder down. He received the puck by the time I hit him,” Gryba said. “I saw the replay. My elbow was down and there was no intent to hurt him whatsoever and I hope that he’s OK. I’m not out here to hurt anybody and it’s never good to seeing anything like that.

“I hope he makes a full and speedy recovery.”

Canadiens captain Brian Gionta said the quantity of shots was fine, and the quality was there some of the time, but his team needs to be sharper.

“We battled hard most of the game, but we’ve got to do a little better job of getting second and third opportunities,” Gionta said. “We had a lot of good chances, quality chances, but we’ve got to find a way to get those rebounds or a little more urgency in front of their net. He’s a good goalie and he’s going to make the first stop, for sure.”

Gryba’s hit came after Montreal’s P.K. Subban flattened Chris Neil with an open ice hit, but the Ottawa enforcer wasn’t injured on the play.

Game notes

Montreal’s 50 shots set a team record for a regulation playoff game. … The Canadiens are 50-28-2 all-time in playoff openers. Ottawa is 11-11. … Montreal sat out Jeff Halpern, Colby Armstrong, Davis Drewiske and Yannick Weber. … Peter Regin, Matt Kassian, Patrick Wiercioch and Andre Benoit were among Ottawa’s scratches. … The game was the first between Canadian teams in the playoffs since 2004. Ottawa met Toronto and Vancouver took on Calgary in the first round that season.

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Or was he just trying to avoid the top-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins?

“We talked about mostly finishing better than last year,” Alfredsson said after the Senators beat Boston 4-2 in the NHL’s rescheduled regular-season finale on Sunday night to earn the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference.

“We were eighth last year, so to win here the last game and finish seventh it feels really good. We improved on last year, and that’s what we wanted.”

Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the tiebreaking goal with 3:34 to play, and Kyle Turris added an empty-netter to help Ottawa win the game that was originally scheduled for April 15, the day of the Boston Marathon bombings.

It was the only NHL game on Sunday, with the rest of the league wrapping up the regular season by Saturday.

The victory pushed the Senators past the New York Islanders and into seventh in the East, helping them avoid the Penguins in the first round.

Ottawa opens the series in Montreal on Thursday.

“I think it will be a great series,” Alfredsson said. “The Bell Centre is one of the most exciting buildings to play in. It’s a great hockey town as well. … I think it’s going to be an unbelievable atmosphere in both arenas, and I’m looking forward to a hard-fought series.”

The Islanders will face Pittsburgh in the first round. The Bruins could have won the Northeast Division and earned a No. 2 seed with a win, but they finished fourth in the East and will play Toronto in the first round starting Wednesday in Boston.

“We wanted to win tonight to clinch the division,” Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk said. “Now it doesn’t matter. We have to move forward for the playoffs.”

Boston has not faced the Maple Leafs in the postseason since the first round of the 1974 playoffs. It is the only matchup of Original Six teams in the first round.

“You want to get the No. 2 spot, but at the end it doesn’t matter,” said defenseman Dennis Seidenberg, who scored just 14 seconds into the third period to tie it 2-all.

“We still have home ice advantage in the first round, and the first round is always the toughest one to get out of. Everything else doesn’t matter now.”

Robin Lehner stopped 34 shots for the Senators, who had not beaten Boston in their previous 14 tries.

Tuukka Rask made 18 saves for Boston, which had won two straight division titles. He was pulled with about a minute left, but the Bruins couldn’t muster any pressure before Turris’ empty-netter with 37 seconds to play.

Pageau also assisted on Erik Condra’s goal that made it 1-0 with 3 minutes left in the first period. Jared Cowen scored midway through the second to give Ottawa a 2-0 lead.

But the Bruins scored twice in 18 seconds of clock time — on Rich Peverley’s goal with 3.4 seconds left in the second period and again on Seidenberg’s goal 14 seconds into the third.

It was still tied when Pageau swept a rebound past Rask to give the Senators a 3-2 lead. The Bruins couldn’t manage any pressure with Rask pulled for the final minute, and Ottawa clinched on Turris’ empty-netter.

Game notes

The Bruins handed out their regular-season awards before the game: Patrice Bergeron was the recipient of the Eddie Shore Award for hustle and determination and the Elizabeth Dufresne Trophy for outstanding performance during home games. Gregory Campbell earned the John P. Bucyk Award for off-ice charitable contributions, and the three stars went to Rask (first), Bergeron (second) and Tyler Seguin (third). … The rescheduled game almost had to be bumped back when the Celtics’ 1 p.m. game went into overtime. But the Bull Gang got the basketball floor off the ice in time for the 7 p.m. start. … All four Northeast Division teams to make the playoffs are facing each other. … The Senators have never faced Montreal in the playoffs since joining the NHL in 1992.

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Therrien was angry after the Canadiens lost by four goals for a second straight game — this time 7-3 to the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night.

Max Pacioretty, Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk scored for the Canadiens (26-11-5), who were coming off a 5-1 loss in Toronto on Saturday. They have had two lopsided losses since clinching a playoff spot on Thursday.

“Since we clinched, our intensity and concentration level, our attention to detail and our work ethic, have fallen a lot,” Therrien said after the loss that helped the struggling Flyers end a four-game losing streak. “You see the results.

“It’s a game of pride. You have to come to the rink ready to play. That’s what we were not doing the last two games. There’s no work ethic there right now. It’s disappointing.”

Scott Hartnell scored three goals, Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek each had a goal and two assists, and Wayne Simmonds and Erik Gustafsson also scored for the Flyers (18-21-3), who matched their season high for goals as they try to make a late push for a playoff spot.

Philadelphia is in 12th place in the Eastern Conference, four places and seven points behind the New York Rangers and the postseason cutoff. The Flyers have six games remaining, starting with a home matchup with the Rangers on Tuesday.

The Flyers outshot Montreal 33-28 in a sloppy game that had the 21,273 at the Bell Centre booing the Canadiens.

Canadiens goalie Carey Price was pulled for a second game in a row in favor of Peter Budaj. Price left at the end of the second period after allowing six goals on 29 shots.

“Carey Price obviously didn’t have his best night,” said Hartnell, whose team scored only three goals in its previous four games. “We had traffic in front, we were making plays, we were moving our feet in the offensive zone.

“We weren’t standing still with the puck. It’s lot more fun to play games like that instead of 0-0.”

The Canadiens are in danger of losing three in a row for the first time this season when they play at first-place Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

“We always bounced back all season,” said defenseman Francis Bouillon, who was minus-3 on Monday. “We’ve got a lot of character in this room.

“It would be nice to win a few games. We’re not focusing on the playoffs now, but it’s important for us to play some good hockey before the playoffs.”

They could be without Ryan White for a while. White was ejected in the first period for a direct hit to the head of defenseman Kent Huskins, when the Canadiens were trailing 2-0 just 6:11 in. The Flyers said Huskins had a concussion, and he didn’t return to the game.

White launched himself at Huskins but missed his body and caught him on the jaw. Already in trouble with Therrien earlier in the season for taking ill-timed penalties, White’s future with Montreal now looks in doubt.

Price, pulled in Toronto on Saturday after allowing three goals on four shots, gave up two goals on five Philadelphia shots before settling down. The Flyers outshot Montreal 17-8 in the first period.

“It isn’t easy to play every game at the same level,” Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov said. “Other players can make a mistake, and your partner can cover you. We support him.”

Simmonds broke down right wing and fired a shot that was stopped by Price, but the rebound hit rookie Montreal defenseman Nathan Beaulieu and went in at 2:45.

Gustafsson’s wrist shot from the point went through several bodies in front and trickled between Price’s pads at 5:49.

Consecutive cross-checking calls on the Flyers’ Oliver Lauridsen allowed the Canadiens to tie it as Pacioretty tipped in Tomas Plekanec’s pass in the slot at 19:02. Gallagher scored from in front 38 seconds into the second.

Only 24 seconds later, Josh Gorges overskated a puck behind his net, and Giroux pounced and fed Voracek as the Flyers took a 3-2 lead. Voracek’s 18th goal tied a career high set last season.

Hartnell scored from the slot on a power play at 7:30, but Galchenyuk fought off a check to score at 9:11. Giroux put one in off Markov’s stick at 10:46 for a 5-3 Philadelphia lead.

Hartnell snapped a shot past Budaj from the top of the left circle 12:45 into the third.

Game notes

A moment of silence was held for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. … Montreal rested banged-up forward Brandon Prust. White took his place in the lineup.

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Pacioretty scored twice to lead the Canadiens to a 5-2 victory over the Maple Leafs on Wednesday night and emphatically avenge a 6-0 home loss on Feb. 9.

There was bad blood between the longtime rivals in that previous meeting when an alleged biting incident involving Mikhail Grabovski and Pacioretty took place.

But instead of physical retaliation, the Canadiens effectively used their speed to outplay Toronto, cementing the win on third-period goals by rookie Brendan Gallagher, Pacioretty and Brian Gionta.

“The coaches talked to us before the game about sticking to our game plan and not getting sucked into the emotions of the game,” Pacioretty said. “I think we did a great job of that.”

Defenseman Josh Gorges echoed Pacioretty’s take on the rematch.

“There’s always a lot of different ideas, different emotions especially after the last way we played these guys about how do we get back,” he said. “It’s not about grabbing somebody and jumping them and feeding them punches because that really doesn’t do us any good in the long run.

“It may feel good for a few minutes if that opportunity did ever come, but ultimately two points always feels better.”

Gallagher scored his sixth of the season at 9:08 of the third period to break a 2-2 tie. Pacioretty clinched the win for Eastern Conference-leading Montreal (13-4-3) with his sixth at 14:26, and Gionta added an empty-net goal with 2:26 left.

Frazer McLaren and Clarke MacArthur scored for Toronto (12-9), which had won three straight at home.

Since being shut out by Toronto, the streaking Canadiens have gone 7-0-2. They outshot the Leafs 40-23 before a crowd of 19,625 — the largest in Toronto this season.

The Maple Leafs, who earned a 2-1 win at Montreal in the season opener, fell to 4-5 at home overall.

“The Maple Leafs played two terrific games at the Bell Centre and we knew we had to bounce back from those type of games,” Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. “We certainly played a great team game and stuck to our plan, and we were controlling our emotion to play that game.

“Right from the get go I thought our guys were ready to play, and we set the tone. They tried to be physical on us but I was not afraid of that. We just kept focusing on the things we had to do to be successful.”

Maple Leafs goalie Ben Scrivens made his eighth straight start and kept his club in the game, finishing with 35 saves.

“We were flat, flat, flat, flat,” Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said. “It looked like at times that we were playing in our boots and they were playing on skates.

“We just didn’t get anything going for ourselves. I don’t think there’s any way to paint it pretty and I’m sure you guys will give us a lot of help.”

The Canadiens had forward Michael Ryder in the lineup after reacquiring him from the Dallas Stars on Tuesday for Erik Cole.

Ryder didn’t figure in the scoring but wore his usual No. 73 after rookie Gallagher gave it up to him. Ryder has worn No. 73 since breaking into the NHL in 2003. Gallagher wore No. 11.

Montreal controlled much of the first period, outshooting the Leafs 12-4, but McLaren opened the scoring with his second goal at 13:44.

Defenseman Alexei Emelin tied it with his first at 16:56 before Toronto’s Mike Brown received a major penalty for checking from behind. He was ejected after he hit Gorges in the final minute of the period.

Pacioretty put Montreal ahead on the power play at 4:17 of the second. Scrivens attempted to deflect P.K. Subban’s point shot to the corner but it deflected in off Pacioretty for his fifth.

Toronto had a prime chance to tie it when Grabovski was awarded a penalty shot at 11:45 after he was hauled down by Emelin. But Grabovski couldn’t beat Price to the stick side on the attempted deke.

MacArthur tied it at 15:47 with his fifth.

Game notes

This was the third of five meetings this season between the teams. … James Reimer served as Scrivens’ backup after being added to the active roster earlier Wednesday. Reimer had been out since sustaining a knee injury Feb. 11 against Philadelphia. G Jussi Rynnas was reassigned to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. Reimer is expected to start Thursday at the New York Islanders. … With Rafael Diaz (concussion) out, Montreal D Tomas Kaberle suited up against his former team. … Maple Leafs D Mark Fraser came into the game leading the NHL with a plus-14 rating.

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The Rangers announced Wednesday that Nash, who is suffering from an undisclosed injury, will not join the club on its trip to Ottawa.

Nash has not been ruled out to rejoin the team in Montreal, however. The Rangers visit the Canadiens on Saturday at Montreal’s Bell Centre in a rematch of Tuesday’s 3-1 loss.

Nash was somewhat of a surprising scratch on Tuesday, if only because he played Sunday against the Washington Capitals. The 28-year-old Nash, who was acquired by the Rangers in a heralded trade this past summer, was questionable leading up to that game against Washington.

Nash missed a team event on Friday due to illness and missed practice the next day — the team characterized it as a maintenance day — but took warm-ups Sunday and played. He also practiced Monday but sat out with the mystery ailment on Tuesday.

Nash did not practice with the team on Wednesday.

Although the Rangers have repeatedly declined to reveal what is ailing Nash — coach John Tortorella’s most colorful response on the matter was, “None of your business” — or how serious the injury may be, it is believed that whatever is holding Nash out of the lineup is linked to a nasty hit he took last week in Boston.

Nash’s head rattled against the glass when he was slammed into the boards by Bruins forward Milan Lucic, who was not penalized on the play.

Without Nash, Marian Gaborik has moved up to the right wing position on the team’s first line, where he is playing with left wing Carl Hagelin and center Derek Stepan.

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The Canadiens earned their third straight win Saturday night when Brendan Gallagher and Rene Bourque each had a goal and an assist in a 4-1 victory over the sagging Philadelphia Flyers.

The win came a week to the day after a 6-0 whitewashing by Toronto at the Bell Centre.

Defenseman Josh Gorges said the club did right to forget that defeat and focus on the games ahead.

“I thought the way we handled that game, with (Erik) Cole getting the guys together, guys talking and coming back to work the right way. … You can lick your wounds and feel sorry for yourselves and point fingers, but instead of doing that we decided to look in the mirror, and be accountable and get better,” Gorges said. “We had a good week.”

The Canadiens rebounded with a 4-3 shootout win at Tampa Bay on Tuesday night and a 1-0 overtime win over the Panthers in Florida on Thursday before putting away Philadelphia.

“It was important to bounce back,” coach Michel Therrien said. “We got better each game. I like how we competed. I couldn’t ask for more.”

David Desharnais and Tomas Plekanec also scored for the Canadiens, while backup Peter Budaj got his first win in three starts this season while filling in for Carey Price, who was at home sick. Max Pacioretty and Brian Gionta each had a pair of assists.

Daniel Briere had the lone goal for the Flyers, who have lost three of their last four and looked tired and listless as they were outshot 29-19. The Flyers had only seven shots when Briere scored more than halfway through the second period.

Captain Claude Giroux’s concern with his team’s flat play was evident when he spoke after the game.

“There’s no compete,” he said. “We’re not winning battles.

“We’re just going through the motions. You know, we’re a young team that can skate. We should be winning more battles than this. It’s just frustrating to see. I know I have to be better, but a team is 20 guys and you need everybody to show up.”

Brian Boucher started in place of Ilya Bryzgalov and had little chance on the Montreal goals.

“Sometimes there are games where you go out there and see how it plays out,” Boucher said. “You don’t want to play the game that way. You want to be on the attack, on the balls of your feet. Maybe that was the case tonight.”

It may have been a costly win for Montreal, which has been healthy since the start of the season except for center Petteri Nokelainen’s back injury.

Gallagher left four minutes into the third period after he was checked into the boards by Luke Schenn, and Pacioretty exited the game after crashing either an elbow or his ribs into a goalpost after being hauled down by Kimmo Timonen at 11:52.

Therrien said both players had upper body injuries and would undergo tests to determine the extent of the problems.

Later, forward Colby Armstrong took a puck to face and went for treatment. And then defenseman Alexei Emelin struggled to the bench after being checked from behind by Giroux, although he stayed in the game.

The Flyers were coming off a 5-3 loss to New Jersey on Friday night. They were outshot 12-2 in the opening period but Boucher kept them in the game.

Gallagher got his fifth of the season at 8:53 after taking a feed from Pacioretty and putting a nifty move on Timonen before scoring on a low shot.

Gallagher and Pacioretty combined again to feed Desharnais alone in front 1:15 into the second frame.

Defenseman P.K. Subban made a sprawling save after Budaj misplayed a puck behind his crease, but the shutout was broken moments later when Briere put a shot in off Andrei Markov’s leg at 13:56.

Plekanec got his seventh of the season 4:32 into the third as he took his own rebound off defenseman Braydon Coburn and fired it past the sprawled Boucher.

Bourque was credited with an empty-net goal at 18:56.

Game notes

Goalie Robert Mayer was called up from AHL Hamilton to back up Budaj. … Montreal defenseman Alexei Emelin, hit on the face by a puck in the preseason, has traded in his face cage for a visor. … Ryan White, Yannick Weber and Tomas Kaberle were scratched for Montreal. The Flyers sat out Kurtis Foster, Herry Zolnierczyk and Tom Sestito.

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Julien moved rising star Tyler Seguin onto a unit with David Krejci and Milan Lucic, and it produced the tying and winning goals on its first two shifts as the Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 on Wednesday night.

“We needed to create more scoring chances because we didn’t have many in the first two periods, so we tweaked the lines a bit and the guys responded well,” Julien said. The Bruins improved to 7-1-1 and maintained their hold on first place in the Northeast Division.

“That Krejci line’s been awesome for us but (Wednesday) they weren’t able to generate much, so I said, ‘Let’s move guys around here and give them a little spark,’ and it worked out,” Julien said. “Look at Siggy driving the net on that first goal.”

Seguin sneaked in front to take a pass from Krejci and lift it over Carey Price to tie the game only 14 seconds into the third period.

The speedy young center then slipped the puck to the left wing on a rush, and Lucic fed it in front. The onrushing Krejci got there just before Montreal center Tomas Plekanec and tipped it in at 2:05.

P.K. Subban scored his first goal of the season on a second-period power play for Montreal, which was shut down by Tuukka Rask while outshooting Boston 11-4 in the first.

The Canadiens (6-3-0) had their five-game home winning streak was snapped.

“We played well in the first period, but starting in the second, we kind of backed up,” said defenseman Andrei Markov, who picked up his ninth point in nine games. “We stopped playing our game.”

Boston outshot Montreal 23-22.

The Canadiens play Thursday night in Buffalo before facing the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night at the Bell Centre.

Julien called it the best game so far this season for Rask, who has built a 6-1-1 record as the starter while veteran Tim Thomas is on a self-assigned sabbatical.

Rask stopped Lars Eller on a breakaway 10 minutes into the game, and got a break in the second when Plekanec was in alone but lost control of the puck and shot it into the corner rather than at the net.

“He’s had the right attitude,” Julien said of his goaltender. “With the high expectations, he’s just doing his job.

“He’s a normal goaltender, which might be a surprise to a lot of people,” he said. “But he’s so easy going. There are no issues.”

The Krejci, Lucic and Nathan Horton line has been Boston’s best this season while Seguin went into the game in a slump with only one goal in the first eight games.

“I was feeling snake bitten, but I’m glad one went in and we pulled this one out,” Seguin said. “I feel I’ve been playing decently.

“I had a couple of goals called back. Things weren’t going in. But we got it going in the third,” he added.

The Canadiens did not allow the Bruins a shot on goal until the game was more than 11 minutes in, but solid saves from Rask kept it scoreless.

Subban broke the deadlock at 10:53 of the second with Lucic serving a high-sticking penalty.

The flamboyant defenseman took a pass from Markov, and saw his point shot go off Rich Peverley’s stick and past Rask. It was Subban’s first goal and third point in three games since he ended a holdout by signing a two-year contract.

The goal drew big applause from the Bell Centre crowd as Subban did the leg-lifted “Joel” pose in celebration.

It ended Boston’s string of 16 straight penalty kills to start the season.

Game notes

Price left the ice in a hurry during pregame warm-ups after he was hit in the groin area by Lars Eller’s shot, but was OK to play. … Prospect Blake Geoffrion, who fractured his skull in an AHL game at the Bell Centre during the lockout, says he feels better and will be examined by a doctor in Montreal on Thursday to see when he can resume training. … Montreal scratched Tomas Kaberle, Ryan White and Yannick Weber. … Boston was without Brad Marchand, Shawn Thornton and Daniel Paille because of injuries.

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