CANADIENS
Montreal

3-1

DEVILS
New Jersey

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings 

[one_half]Tatar – Danault – Gallagher
Deslauriers – Kotkaniemi – Lehkonen
Shinkaruk – Plekanec – Hudon
Chaput – De La Rose – Froese
[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Alzner – Schlemko
Mete – Juulsen
Valiev – Despres

[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders

Niemi
Lindgren

Scratches

Injuries

Game Report 

92 seconds of fun.

That’s all it took early in the third period for the Bell Centre faithful to go home happy after the Canadiens played their first pre-season game. Goals by Victor Mete, Charles Hudon and Jesperi Kotkaniemi did the damage taking advantage of a less than stellar performance by Devils goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood.

Two periods of Devils – Canadiens hockey was uninspiring to say the least. New Jersey took a lead early in the first period courtesy of a dreadful Simon Despres turnover. Blake Speers picked up a shorthanded goal for the Devils. After 40 minutes the shots were a paltry 13-10 for the Habs.

Things could have turned out differently. An apparent early third period goal by by New Jersey was waived off due to goaltender interference. Video replay being reserved for the regular season would have undoubtedly allowed the Devils goal to stand.

A two-goal third period deficit in front of an impatient crowd may have led to a different result.

But 23 seconds later Victor Mete got the Canadiens on the board after some great work to dig the puck by Jacob De La Rose. One minute later, Charles Hudon took advantage of a Blackwood miscue. Then 30 seconds later, it was Kotkaniemi’s 18-year-old smile that lit up the Bell Centre.

Not a lot to take from a game like this. Truth be told, while he brought Habs fans to their feet, it wasn’t the best game for Kotkaniemi. He scored his first goal in his first pre-season game on his only shot on goal. Sometimes the hockey gods work that way.

While the Canadiens got the breaks tonight facing a split Devils squad and feasted on some shaky goaltending, it was an important victory for a team and fanbase needing a win. 

===

▲  Artturi Lehkonen, Victor Mete, Noah Juulsen, Jacob De La Rose

▼  Byron Froese, Simon Despres

1. Victor Mete  MTL
2. Michael Chaput  MTL
3. Jesperi Kotkaniemi  MTL

• “[Jesperi Kotkaniemi] is 18 years old, he’s still a junior in many people’s eyes. This is North American hockey. We appreciate the way he handles himself. He’s learning on the fly, getting better on a daily basis.”

Jesperi Kotkaniemi

• “I didn’t play that good in the first two periods but I felt more comfortable in the third period,” said Kotkaniemi.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

Habs announce Nick Deslauriers' night is done. (Upper body).

— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) September 18, 2018

Despres isn’t doing his contract status any favours with plays like that on the PP… @AllHabs @HabsUnfiltered @TheAHLReport @RocketSports

— Matt Smith (@Snakebite350) September 17, 2018

Artturi Lehkonen is wearing an A tonight as he plays on the wing of his young countryman Jesperi Kotkaniemi in his first NHL preseason game. Seems appropriate.

— Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) September 17, 2018

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