The Habs wrapped up their preseason with a split-squad set against Ottawa. As they did last weekend, Montreal iced their better roster at home. A strong third period was enough to get the job done as the Canadiens picked up the 4-2 win.
With Ivan Demidov getting the game off to give him a bit more recovery time after missing a pair of practices this week and Oliver Kapanen anchoring a line in Ottawa, Martin St. Louis got creative with his middle-six forwards. Instead of working on finding some chemistry with set lines, he opted to try a couple of different looks which could come in handy during the season. The team lined up as follows:
Caufield – Suzuki – Kreider
Newhook – Danault – Slafkovsky
Texier – Evans – Anderson
Beck – F. Xhekaj – Thorpe
Matheson – Dobson
Mittelstadt – Carrier
Szuber – Samson
Fowler
Montembeault
10 Thoughts
1) I’ve never understood why a fighter would make a point of getting a staged fight in during the preseason. We know Tyler Thorpe can fight. He was a good fighter in junior and in Laval last year. This was his last chance before being cut to show the coaching staff what he can do. Using that time on a staged fight with a full-time minor leaguer to show the coaches something they already know seems like a wasted opportunity. But maybe that’s just me.
2) The penalty kill didn’t have a great opening period. After Florian Xhekaj was called for interference on a play that injured Adam Nemec (but wasn’t really interference), Philip Tomasino beat Jacob Fowler on a shot just six seconds after the faceoff. Then, late in the opening frame, Ottawa executed a nice tic-tac-toe passing play, setting Tyler Boucher up for a one-timer that Fowler had no chance on. Luke Mittelstadt sprawled to break up one of those passes and missed, opening more room for the sequence to finish.
3) In between that, the Habs caught quite a break. On a dump-in directed into the zone by Chris Kreider, Samuel Ersson handled the puck like it was a live grenade. What should have been an easy pass out of the zone turned into a scramble play. Nick Suzuki was there to throw it on net. Ersson and Scott Harrington battled each other for the puck and missed, leaving Kreider to skate in and bury the rebound. A dirty goal from in tight, that’s something the Canadiens will be looking for a lot from him this season.
4) With Lane Hutson not in the lineup, Noah Dobson got to quarterback the power play. Beyond being a right-hand shot, he also brings a different element in that he’s a true shooting threat from the point. That was quickly put into play as Juraj Slafkovsky set him up for a one-timer on the opening shift of the second as he blasted one home past Ersson. While this isn’t a call to make Dobson the top power play blueliner, it’s something I’d like to see them try here and there when the power play starts to run cold as it always does. That good of a point shot from the back end is a dimension that can shake things up at times.
5) The penalty kill’s rough night continued in the second. Jake Evans was sent off for a hook on Philip Tomasino and Ottawa had a dominant power play with their ‘B’ lineup. Full credit to Samuel Montembeault who was sharp just minutes after entering the game. He made several key stops and sent a strong message in the tight battle for the backup spot.
6) Second periods were tough for the Habs last season and that trend carried over into this one as it did last Saturday when they struggled in the middle frame against Toronto (in the home game). Frankly, the Canadiens were lucky not to be losing after a pretty dreadful second period (and that’s with them winning the frame on the Dobson goal). No, it’s not time to get worried about struggles in the second yet but the first two middle frames of the preseason on home ice have left a lot to be desired.
7) The Habs benefitted from another fortuitous bounce in the third. Slafkovsky skated the puck in and tried to get around a Sens defender but lost the puck. It went right to Ben Hutton who tried to tap it away…and instead tapped it right back to Slafkovsky. Unobstructed, Slafkovsky was able to fire a shot past Ersson for the eventual winner.
8) Phillip Danault isn’t known for his offence but he got a bit of time on the top line in the middle of a line change and made the most of it. With Slafkovsky driving toward the net, Danault flashed to the front, took the feed, and beat Ersson. It’s the type of play Slafkovsky scored a lot on last season on the power play. A nice way to end his preseason, if nothing else.
9) With Owen Beck publicly lamenting his lack of opportunity this week, I was curious to see how things would go for him in this one. He didn’t play poorly, but going 0/2 on breakaways in the third period probably didn’t help his cause. That said, the second one came off some good work at the end of the penalty kill which warrants a mention.
10) The two sides agreed to have a shootout after the game to get some practice in. Nick Suzuki led off and wasn’t able to snap his 0/17 streak. Then, to rub salt in the wound, Ryan Suzuki had the highlight of the shootout, beating Montembeault. However, Alexandre Texier and Alex Newhook were able to score, giving the Habs the win there as well.
In the other game, Ottawa had the much better lineup on paper with the Habs utilizing the more generous veteran rules to meet the minimum quota, similar to what the Senators did for the game in Montreal. Things got off to a nice start for the visitors, with Brett Berard tipping home a pass from Hunter McKown less than four minutes in.
But the penalty kill struggles weren’t just confined to Montreal. The Habs allowed three power play goals on their first four kills, putting the visitors down by two heading to the third. But Montreal stormed back with goals from Alex Belzile (who outwaited Linus Ullmark on a three-on-one) and Sasha Pastujov snapping one home off a giveaway from Hoyt Stanley.
However, the penalty kill got them in the end. Just past the midway mark, William Eklund potted Ottawa’s fourth power play marker of the game and this one held as the winner with the Sens securing the 4-3 win.