CANADIENS
Montreal

3-2

SENATORS
Ottawa

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings 

[one_half]Tatar – Danault – Gallagher
Drouin – Kotkaniemi – Armia
Byron – Plekanec – Scherbak
Shinkaruk – McCarron – Ward
[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Alzner – Petry
Mete – Juulsen
Reilly – Benn

[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders

Price
Lindgren

Scratches

Injuries

Game Report 

Jonathan Drouin was hit in the mouth with a puck by Victor Mete during warm-ups. After repairs he was able to play. Drouin finished the game pointless. Mike Reilly was also blanked on the scoresheet and finished the game with a minus-1 rating.

Reilly and Drouin were tonight’s second and third stars of the game respectively. Well, it’s the pre-season for everyone.

The game’s first star was pointless as well. In fact, Jesperi Kotkaniemi ended the game without a shot on goal. But Kotkaniemi showed stretches of strong play and a little bad luck, hitting a crossbar and two posts.

With Max Domi on the shelf for the rest of the pre-season, Kotkaniemi slotted in between Jonathan Drouin and fellow countryman Joel Armia. And the 18-year-old didn’t look out of place at all. Despite the fact that they didn’t score, truth be told, the Kotkaniemi line had a lot more jump and a few more opportunities than with Domi at the helm.

With Domi serving his suspension and Nick Suzuki suffering a minor injury, the door was wide open for Kotkaniemi on Saturday night. And he more than answered the call.

Nikiita Scherbak scored his second goal of the pre-season in as many games. For a team looking to replace the offence of Pacioretty and Galchenyuk, Scherbak could be a contributor. He was a nice fit on a line with Tomas Plekanec (72 percent at the faceoff dot)  and Paul Byron (who also picked up a goal.)

After falling behind by two goals, the Canadiens struck quickly scoring three goals in 3:16 (at the end of the second period and beginning of the third) for the victory.

===

▲  Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Nikita Scherbak, Tomas Plekanec, Noah Juulsen

▼  Michael McCarron, Hunter Shinkaruk

1. Jesperi Kotkaniemi  MTL
2. Mike Reilly  MTL
3. Jonathan Drouin  MTL

Jesperi Kotkaniemi

• “Only thing I need to tell you, I hate those posts.”

Jonathan Drouin

• “I love the wing, played there pretty much my whole life.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

Kotkaniemi has impressed me tonight, happy to see him given the opportunity to play alongside Armia and Drouin. @AllHabs @HabsConnection @HabsUnfiltered

— Matt Smith (@Snakebite350) September 22, 2018

The Mete/Juulsen pairing looks very solid. Both are very smart, mobile and they have a good chemistry. Its preseason but so far it looks like a pair that could be effective @AllHabs @HabsUnfiltered #Habs #CH #Canadiens #GoHabsGo

— Blain Potvin (@Potsy_70) September 22, 2018

#Habs Drouin is on the ice and will play after taking a puck to the face during pregame warmup. #Sens

— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNMtl) September 22, 2018

Follow @AllHabs on Twitter