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Ottawa goaltender Brian Elliott, left makes a stop on Montreal’s Tomas Plekanec, right, on Monday. (Graham Hughes/Canadian Press)

The Ottawa Senators wanted to get out of their slump. The Montreal Canadiens wanted to keep the excellent times rolling. Both teams were tied on points and needed a win in a terrible way.

In the end, the Senators came out on top 2-0 at the Bell Centre Monday and went into fifth place in the Eastern Conference with nine games to go in the season.

Coming into the game, Ottawa, Montreal and Philadelphia were tied in the East with 79 points. The Sens went into sole possession of fifth place with the win while Montreal remains in seventh, as Philly holds the tiebreaker.

Boston is in the eighth and final playoff spot, three points behind Philadelphia and the Canadiens, while Atlanta is making a charge in ninth, four points back.

The Senators didn’t get the out of the offensive doldrums that have plagued them since the Olympic break, but Ottawa certainly got a stronger effort in net from goalie Brian Elliott.

He was shelled in his last outing, giving up six goals against Atlanta on Thursday, but bounced back with a solid 29 stop performance in Montreal, nabbing his fourth shutout of the season in the process.

Peter Regin opened the scoring for Ottawa in the first period, and Erik Karlsson added some insurance in the third. Sens captain Daniel Alfredsson had two assists, and four points in his last two games. Karlsson had a goal and an help.

It was just what the doctor ordered for Ottawa — the team had been mired in a post-Olympic slump that saw the Senators go 1-7-1 heading into Montreal. They snapped a five-game losing streak, while the Habs cooled off after going 6-0-1 in their last seven games.

Philly up next

Ottawa has another huge game coming up as the Sens host Philadelphia on Tuesday. Montreal visits the Northeast-leading Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday.

A scary moment occurred in the second period when Matt Cullen’s skate went up and clipped Montreal’s Travis Moen in the face. A bloodied Moen went down immediately and was rushed off the ice by the team trainer.

A Canadiens spokesman told The Associated Press that Moen would not return to the game, though he was not expected to need to go to hospital for any further medical attention.

Ottawa had the better chances in the first before finally scoring the opening goal. Jason Spezza skied the puck over an open net on a 2-on-1 and Matt Cullen was robbed by Habs goalie Jaroslav Halak before Regin made it 1-0 at 10:15.

Erik Karlsson slid the puck under a diving Hal Gill to Regin, who tipped it past Halak for his 10th of the season.

Three huge saves

Elliott was forced to make three huge saves in quick succession eight minutes into the second period, stopping Andrei Kostitsyn twice along with Tom Pyatt to keep the Senators ahead.

Soon after that Elliott stopped Tomas Plekanec in close, and the Habs forward nearly batted the rebound out of the air and into the net but the Sens goalie covered the puck at the goal-line.

Anton Volchenkov took Ottawa’s third straight penalty at 8:17, but nearly scored when he got out of the box. Chris Campoli found him with a fantastic seam pass but he had the puck stripped off his stick at the last second by a diving Josh Gorges.

Halak made a couple huge stops early in the third, but had no chance on Ottawa’s second goal. Karlsson scored on the power play, perfectly utilizing a Mike Fisher screen to score from the point for his second of the season.

Montreal’s best chance to muster a comeback came when Chris Phillips took a penalty with nine minutes to go, but Elliot kept the scoresheet clean.

Ottawa’s Nick Foligno, left, tries to hold off Montreal’s Andrei Kostitsyn on Monday. (Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images)

The Ottawa Senators wanted to get out of their slump. The Montreal Canadiens wanted to keep the excellent times rolling. Both teams needed a win in a terrible way.

In the end, the Senators came out on top, 2-0 at the Bell Centre Monday, and went into fifth place in the Eastern Conference with nine games to go.

The Senators didn’t get the out of the offensive doldrums that have plagued them since the Olympic break, but Ottawa certainly got a stronger effort in net as goalie Brian Elliott notched his fourth shutout of the season.

Ottawa snapped its five-game losing streak, while the Habs lost their first game in regulation after going 6-0-1 in their last seven contests.

More to come

Scot McCloughlan is out as San Francisco’s general manager. (Mercury News/Patrick Tehan/Associated Press)

Scot McCloughan is out as the general manager of the San Francisco 49ers in a “mutual parting,” and director of player personnel Trent Baalke will lead the team into next month’s draft.

Team president Jed York, speaking Monday in a conference call from the owners meetings in Orlando, said it’s in the best interest of both parties and called it a “private personnel matter.”

He didn’t elaborate on what went incorrect for McCloughan, except to say it had more to do with the GM’s personal issues than anything on the personnel, football side of things.

“Trent is leading us into the draft,” York said. “Trent is the point person in the draft. He is making draft decisions. … I have full confidence in him. I haven’t chose if we’re going to have a general manager. I’m worried about the draft right now. That’s the only thing that the 49ers are focused on. We’ll address that after the draft.”

York, also the team’s chief executive officer, addressed the situation five days after news broke that McCloughan was on his way out. York said the team “had been prepared for this” but that he told McCloughan he would wait to announce it for five days.

Several reports last Thursday said the Niners were cutting ties with McCloughan because of personal issues, though the GM’s agent said at the time that he had not been informed. A call to Peter Schaffer, McCloughan’s representative, wasn’t immediately returned Monday.

McCloughan not done in NFL?

York wouldn’t say whether there is a financial settlement involved, and he believes McCloughan could work in the NFL again one day.

“I wish nothing but the best for Scot,” York said. “I reckon Scot is a very excellent personnel guy. I care about Scot from a personal standpoint and I hope Scot gets a job somewhere. I wish nothing but the best for he and his family.”

The team’s draft board is nearly done and Baalke has been “intimately” involved in setting that board, York said. He also plans to be in the draft room April 22.

In January, York assumed the new role of chief executive officer in a reorganization of the team’s front office and business department. In addition, Andy Dolich left the team as chief operating officer but was to remain a senior adviser to York during the transition.

The 49ers hired McCloughan in February 2005 to supervise their personnel department for Mike Nolan, a career assistant coach who was improbably given total control of the club’s football operations by owner John York, Jed’s father and the brother-in-law of former owner Eddie DeBartolo.

McCloughan is a former minor-league baseball player who became a respected young personnel executive during stints with Green Bay and Seattle.

Mostly solid record

He has a mostly solid record during his years with the 49ers, compiling a young talent base that has steadily improved for most of his tenure, yet the 49ers haven’t reached the playoffs in five seasons since his arrival. Their 8-8 record last season was their best since 2002.

McCloughan was hired as general manager in January 2008 when the 49ers nominally gave him authority over Nolan instead of firing the coach after the 49ers’ third straight losing season.

Nolan lasted just seven more games, with Jed York abruptly replacing him with Mike Singletary during the 2008 season.

The 49ers were similarly mysterious about Nolan’s departure, waiting several hours to acknowledge it, well after Nolan already had told reporters he was out.

The 49ers would have several in-house candidates to assume McCloughan’s responsibilities, though York is still undecided on how he will go forward.