MONTREAL — The skinny: It should come as no surprises that a game between the two stingiest teams in the Eastern Conference would be a goaltending duel. Ottawa’s Craig Anderson came into the game with the best numbers in the NHL, but Carey Price and the Canadiens posted a 2-1 win over the Senators on Sunday afternoon at the Bell Centre. Price made 32 saves, while Anderson had 30. The win gave the Canadiens a sweep of the Super Bowl weekend matinées. Montreal defeated Buffalo 6-1 Saturday with Price making 30 saves.

Home sweet home: The Canadiens are 6-2 on the season and 5-1 at the Bell Centre after a season-opening loss to Toronto. The Canadiens had the second-worst home record in the Eastern Conference last season.

Immediate impact: Max Pacioretty returned to action eight days after an emergency appendectomy and didn’t waste any time getting on the scoreboard. He intercepted a clearing pass in the Ottawa zone and earned an assist when his shot was redirected by David Desharnais at 2:13 of the first period.

On their best behaviour: Brandon Prust felt Chris Neil ambushed him in the game last week in Ottawa and he issued an invitation to the Ottawa tough guy to resume hostilities. But the game Sunday was a relatively tame affair. The Canadiens, who had been averaging a league-high 21.3 penalty minutes a game, took only four minor penalties. Jacob Silfverberg opened the scoring for Ottawa with a power-play goal as the Senators went 1-for-3 with the extra man. The Canadiens went 0-for-4 on the power play, but Eric Cole’s game-winning goal at 11:29 of the first period came three seconds after Daniel Alfredsson finished serving a penalty for tripping Rene Bourque.

Saved by the whistle: It appeared Ottawa had tied the score at 1:26 of the third period when former Canadiens farmhand André Benoit put a slapshot past Price, but referee Brian Pochmara waved off the call and sent Silfverberg to the penalty box for goaltender interference. We’re not going to say what Ottawa general manager said about the call because we like the man and we don’t want to see him fined $10,000. Not surprisingly, Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien said he thought it was the right call.

Close but no cigar: The Senators missed another opportunity a few minutes later when Jim O’Brian couldn’t handle a pass from Eric Condra on the tail end of a 2-on-1 break. Montreal’s best chance in the third period when Bourque, who scored two goals Saturday, hit a post.

What’s next: The Canadiens play their third consecutive set of back-to-back games when they are home to the Boston Bruins on Wednesday (7:30 p.m., TSN, RDS, TSN-690 Radio) and then travel to Buffalo on Thursday (7 p.m., TSN-Habs, RDS, TSN-690 Radio).

phickey@montrealgazette.com

Twitter:@zababes1