Canadiens 3, Senators 0 .

OTTAWA - Carey Price made 19 saves for his first shutout in nearly two years and Andrei Kostitsyn scored twice in the Montreal Canadiens' 3-0 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night.

Price, who has started each of Montreal's seven games, has five career shutouts. It was his first in 90 games since Nov. 11, 2008, when he stopped 28 shots in a 4-0 win over Ottawa.

Kostitsyn opened the scoring in the first and added his second goal of the game late in the second to put Montreal up by three. Benoit Pouliot also scored in the second for the Canadiens, 4-1-1 since losing their season opener in Toronto.

Brian Elliott stopped 31 shots for Ottawa (2-5-1), which won 4-2 in Buffalo one night earlier when captain Daniel Alfredsson reached 1,000 career points with a hat trick. Ottawa's Jason Spezza missed his second straight game because of a groin injury.

Tomas Plekanec played his 400th game for Montreal. He had an assist on Kostitsyn's first goal of the game 10:54 into the first period as the Canadiens held an early 7-0 advantage in shots.

Price made a fine glove save on Chris Kelly's backhander moments after the Senators had a potential tying goal disallowed at 13:27. Referee Kevin Pollock pointed to the net but a video review clearly showed that Ottawa's Nick Foligno kicked the puck into the net with his right skate.

After sticking out his left pad to deny Milan Michalek's goalmouth shot just before the midway mark of the second, Price protected the Canadiens' one-goal lead once again at 11:38 when he stuck out his left glove to stop Chris Campoli's slap shot from the slot.

The Canadiens, 0-for-3 with the man advantage, made it 2-0 on Pouliot's first of the season 13:42 into the second. Pouliot put a backhander past Elliott four seconds after Matt Carkner's interference penalty expired.

Montreal is 1-for-23 on the power play this season.

Kostitsyn increased the lead to three with his second of the game and fourth of the season with 1:23 left.

NOTES: Price has recorded three of his five shutouts against Ottawa ... C Dustin Boyd and D Ryan O'Byrne were healthy scratches for the Canadiens ... Alfredsson has 101 points, including 29 goals and 72 assists, in 77 games against Montreal ... Senators D Brian Lee was a healthy scratch ... The Senators continue their four-game homestand on Tuesday, when the Phoenix Coyotes visit Scotiabank Place (7:30 p.m., Rogers Sportsnet East, Team 1200).