GARRIOCH: Stuetzle, Murray lead the way as Sens end losing streak by edging Habs

“It was a very good feeling and it feels good,” said Stuetzle. “Everybody wanted to win, it was very important and everybody played a great game. It was very good for us.”

Of course, there were some nervous final moments as the Senators had to kill off two power plays late in the game but were able to shut the door. with help from Murray.

Then, the Habs got a shorthanded effort from Anderson with 1:29 left in the game to pull within a goal.

Stuetzle, 19, is the second-youngest player in franchise history to record a three-point game while Alexandre Daigle had recorded three points on Oct. 9, 1993 against the St. Louis Blues.

“I thought we played a really good road game,” said a smiling coach D.J. Smith. “We tried to limit the number of chances as much as we could. They had a really good push at the end but Murray held us. We had some really good individual efforts. I thought our defence and penalty kill was really good.

“I’m just happy we got a win under our belts for these young guys.”

Not only was this one of the club’s most complete efforts of the season, they did a good job creating chances and did a better job defensively than they had in the previous nine games. The Senators looked like a team firing on all cylinders and they were getting the saves from Murray.

He spent Tuesday working with goalies coach Pierre Groulx in Edmonton and it looked like it did Murray some good. He was challenging the shooters more and made some key saves as the Habs tried to press to get back into this one in the third by testing Murray.

“I came into this game wanting to get a win and get off this skid we were on,” said Murray. “I just felt like as a team the way these games have been going for us it’s really frustrating and it’s not a lack of effort. We’re trying our best every night. It just seemed like we were fighting against everything.

“It felt good to get off that streak and this will propel is in the right direction.”

Ahead 3-1 after 40 minutes, the Senators had put together two of the best periods of hockey they’ve played since the club’s season-opening 5-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. The club also had two kill off a 5-on-3 by the Habs, but Ottawa did a good job limiting the chances.