Canadiens Lineup

Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Juraj Slafkovsky

Rem Pitlick – Jake Evans – Rafael Harvey-Pinard

Emil Heineman – Owen Beck – Joel Armia

Michael Pezzetta – Brandon Gignac – Jesse Ylonen

Corey Schueneman – Jordan Harris

Arber Xhekaj – Chris Wideman

Kaiden Guhle – David Savard

Sam Montembeault – Cayden Primeau

Jake Allen, Jonathan Drouin, Sean Monahan, Kirby Dach, Josh Anderson, Madison Bowey, Brendan Gallagher, Evgenii Dadonov, Christian Dvorak, Mike Matheson, Otto Leskinen, Justin Barron, Mike Hoffman

Carey Price (knee), Paul Byron (hip), Joel Edmundson (back), Logan Mailloux (shoulder) 

Game Report

It was the sixth pre-season game and the Montreal Canadiens finally had their captain in the lineup. Not only was Nick Suzuki playing, he was centering the top line, the dream trio, just as so many fans had drawn it up: Suzuki between Cole Caufield and first pick overall, Juraj Slafkovsky.

Marty St. Louis put the three high-profile Canadiens together and then turned them loose, each with more than 22 minutes of ice-time to the delight of the Bell Centre faithful. 

Was the line a success? Checking the box score, Caufield had a goal and Suzuki tallied two assists! But a closer look is required.

Caufield’s goal came on the power-play, assisted by Suzuki with five minutes remaining in the third period. In the second, Suzuki assisted on the Canadiens first goal by Joel Armia.

The line itself was not terribly effective at even strength. Suzuki was a step behind,  understandably looking every bit like a player who was making his pre-season debut. The Senators were successful at quieting Caufield and Slafkovsky, playing on back-to-back nights, looked fatigued throughout the game.

Suzuki will shake off the rust by the time puck drops for opening night. And it’s a pretty good bet that someone other than Slafkovsky will be joining Caufield and Suzuki to start the season.

Savard Scores

Marty St. Louis wants his defenceman active in the offense this season. And there was no better example than David Savard driving to the front of the Ottawa goal for his first goal of the pre-season from Jake Evans. St. Louis has directed his d-men to be aggressive in joining the play.

The inspiration comes from St Louis’ mentor, John Tortorella. Today, the Philadelphia Flyers coach said, “Mistakes are mistakes. But I want them to be aggressive mistakes. Is there a chance that it might lead to a 2-on-1 occasionally? Sure. That’s why we have a goalie.”

If St. Louis follows suit that may mean extra work from Jake Allen and Sam Montembeault this season.

Up Next

Owen Beck and Brandon Gignac were cut from training camp following the game.

The Canadiens head east for two Kraft Hockeyville games against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday and Saturday. First stop is at the Steele Community Centre in Gander, Newfoundland.

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