Canadiens Lineup

Tyler Toffoli – Nick Suzuki – Brendan Gallagher

Artturi Lehkonen – Ryan Poehling – Jesse Ylonen

Laurent Dauphin – Mathieu Perreault – Gabriel Bourque

Brandon Baddock – Jean-Christophe Beaudin – Alex Belzile

Alexander Romanov – Jeff Petry

Brett Kulak – Gianni Fairbrother

Arber Xhekaj – Chris Wideman

Cayden Primeau – Michael McNiven

Joel Edmundson (undisclosed), Carey Price (knee), Paul Byron (hip), Mike Hoffman (lower-body), Cedric Paquette (groin), Cole Caufield (shoulder), Mattias Norlinder (undisclosed), Sami Niku (concussion)

Game Report

In the first three games of the pre-season, the Canadiens were thoroughly dominated during 5-on-5 play. Yes, that evens applies to Monday’s win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. But tonight, the Habs put in a full team effort where they controlled possession and snuffed out most scoring opportunities by the Senators.

High-danger scoring opportunities, at all strengths, were recorded as 11-2 in favor of Montreal. Cayden Primeau, playing the full game in goal for the Canadiens, made just one high danger save in this game. 

The offence was supplied by the top line with Brendan Gallagher joining Nick Suzuki and Tyler Toffoli. It was Gallagher’s first action of the pre-season. The veteran sparkplug looked comfortable in Cole Caufield‘s spot giving Dominique Ducharme options when he has a healthy lineup.

Ryan Poehling had another solid night cementing his hold on a centre slot in the lineup. Poehling played a strong two-way game and was 56 percent at the faceoff dot, tops on the team.

On the back end Jeff Petry and Alexander Romanov are looking more comfortable together. They each complemented each other well in this game.

Contributions from Youth

Tonight’s win no doubt boosted the confidence of Cayden Primeau who has struggled throughout training camp. Primeau looked uncomfortable from the opening faceoff. He continues to have difficulty reading plays and tracking the puck.

Fortunately, with the Canadiens locking down the defensive zone, Primeau was not called upon in this game. With Samuel Montembeault thrown into the goalie mix, Primeau will have to significantly up his effort in his remaining days in camp.

Up Next

Following the game, the Canadiens cut seven more players from training camp: Brandon Baddock, Laurent Dauphin, Michael McNiven, J-S Dea, J-C Beaudin, Tobie Bisson, and Corey Schueneman.

The Canadiens will have 37 players remaining in camp for Monday’s practice. Montreal’s next exhibition game will be on Tuesday against the Maple Leafs in Toronto.

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