The skinny: Lars Eller scored the deciding goal in a shootout to give the Canadiens a 4-3 win over the Senators Wednesday night at the Bell Centre. What appeared to be a cakewalk for the home side turned into a nail-biter when Carey Price allowed a harmless shot by Patrick Wiercioch to slide through his pads at 1:50 of the third period. That completed a Senators’ comeback from a 3-1 deficit.

Still in first: The win moved the Canadiens into sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference with a two-point edge over idle Pittsburgh. Montreal moved three points clear of Boston in the Northeast Division, but the Bruins are in the driver’s seat with three games in hand.

Resilient team: The Senators continue to collect points despite the loss of top scorer Jason Spezza, Norris Trophy-winning defenceman Erik Karlsson and top goaltender Craig Anderson. They have at least one point in 10 of their last 12 games and stand fifth in the Eastern Conference with a one-point edge over Toronto.

Power trip: Both teams enjoyed success on the power play. The Canadiens took a 3-1 lead on second-period power-play goals by rookie Brendan Gallagher and P.K. Subban. In typical fashion, Gallagher was in front of the net to tip a shot by Max Pacioretty for his eighth goal of the season, while Subban scored on a slapshot from the blue line. Mika Zibanejad scored Ottawa’s first goal on a power play while Daniel Alfredsson scored late in the second period to trim the Montreal lead to 3-2. The Canadiens went 2-for-5 with the extra man and Ottawa was 2-for-3.

Canadiens nemesis: It took a video replay to confirm Alfredsson’s power-play goal at 19:58 of the second period. The Canadiens will be happy to see the 40-year-old Swede retire. In 89 games against Montreal, he has 31 goals and 74 assists for 105 points.

Markov streak continues: Andrei Markov’s assist on Subban’s power-play goal gave him an assist in each of the past five games.

Mr. Generosity: Subban had a goal and an assist but this was not one of his better games. He was indecisive on the power play and the scoresheet credited him with seven giveaways.

Ice breaker for Dumont: Gabriel Dumont picked up an assist on Lars Eller’s goal for his first NHL point. Dumont was playing his sixth NHL game.

What’s next: The Canadiens will spend a rare Saturday night on the road as they meet the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center (7 p.m., CBC, RDS, TSN-690 Radio). The Canadiens will have a bit of an advantage because the Devils, who defeated the Flyers Wednesday night in Newark, have a return date Friday night in Philadelphia.

phickey@montrealgazette.com

Twitter: @zababes1