Fisher’s OT goal gives Senators team-record ninth straight win, 3-2 over Canadiens.

Senators win 9th straight, top Canadiens 3-2 in OT

OTTAWA — Mike Fisher scored 3:33 into overtime and the Ottawa Senators extended their winning streak to a team-record nine in a row with a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.

Fisher scored during 3-on-3 play after both teams drew penalties in the extra period. He took a pass from defenseman Erik Karlsson and cut across the goalmouth to put a backhand past Jaroslav Halak.

Montreal’s Hal Gill was penalized for tripping 2:17 into overtime after he upended Jason Spezza on a partial breakaway. Spezza, who gave Ottawa a 2-0 lead midway through the second, was sent off for interference at 3:12.

Ottawa had lost five in a row prior to its record winning streak. The Senators’ previous mark was an eight-game winning streak from Oct. 13-Nov. 6, 2007.

Brian Elliott stopped 27 shots to win his seventh straight start. He has allowed eight goals during his streak.

Brian Gionta scored on a power play to draw Montreal even at 2 with 2:45 remaining in regulation.

With Ottawa’s Chris Kelly off for high-sticking, Gionta was in the goalmouth to redirect Andrei Markov’s pass beyond Brian Elliott for his 14th goal.

Alex Kovalev scored his 14th goal late in the first and Spezza scored for a sixth straight game on a power play midway through the second. Filip Kuba assisted on both goals.

Benoit Pouliot scored a power-play goal for Montreal, which has dropped six of eight (2-4-2), including losses in Florida and Tampa Bay on consecutive nights earlier in the week.

Halak made 34 saves, including a huge stop on Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson’s shot on a 2-on-1 with less than 1 minute left in the third.

Mike Cammalleri, Montreal’s leading goal scorer with 26, left 12:49 into the third after he was checked by Ottawa defenseman Anton Volchenkov and fell heavily into the boards. He did not return.

The Senators have won four of five meetings between the teams this season.

Elliott, who lost 4-1 to Montreal on Dec. 8, became the third Ottawa goalie to beat the Canadiens this season. Pascal Leclaire, currently recovering from a concussion, won both his starts against Montreal and Mike Brodeur got the decision in a 4-2 victory at the Bell Centre on Jan. 16, the Senators’ second win of their current streak.

Kovalev, who played for Montreal from 2003-09 before signing with Ottawa as a free agent, opened the scoring late in a freewheeling and entertaining first period.

Booed by the numerous Canadiens fans in attendance whenever he handled the puck in the opening period, Kovalev tapped home Kuba’s cross-ice pass at the edge of the right crease to put the Senators up 1-0 at 17:21.

Spezza extended his personal-best goals streak to six games 11:37 into the second when he deflected Kuba’s shot past Halak to increase Ottawa’s lead to 2-0.

Pouliot drew Montreal within one with his 13th goal at 15:17.

NOTES: The 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins hold the NHL single season record with a 17-game winning streak from March 9-April 10, 1993. … The Senators have outscored their opponents 30-10 over the course of their streak. … Canadiens D Jaroslav Spacek (upper-body injury) was sidelined for a second straight game. D Yannick Weber took his place in the lineup one day after he was recalled from Hamilton of the AHL.