RECAP | Canadiens – Senators: Habs Bubble Players Fail to Impress

Rick Stephens

September 29, 2018

RECAP | Canadiens – Senators: Habs Bubble Players Fail to Impress — Xavier Ouellet (Photo by TVA Sports)

FINAL \| Pre-season Game 7, Away Game 2 \| Saturday September 29, 2018 Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa, ON.
CANADIENS Montreal	0-3	SENATORS Ottawa
Xavier Ouellet (Photo by TVA Sports)
Lineup Forward lines and defense pairings [one_half]Tatar – Danault – Hudon Byron – Drouin – Armia Agostino – Peca – Scherbak De la Rose – Plekanec – Chaput [/one_half] [one_half_last]Benn – Petry Ouellet – Juulsen Alzner – Despres [/one_half_last] Goaltenders Price Niemi Scratches Injuries Game Report On Saturday afternoon, the Canadiens made an announcement that Jesperi Kotkaniemi will be on the opening night roster. Kotkaniemi was one of the few good news stories of the pre-season, and with the Habs having trouble selling tickets, it was an obvious move to make for marketing reasons. Perhaps the organization also had an inkling that the final game of the pre-season was going to be a dud. Because the 0-3 debacle at the Canadian Tire Centre is not a positive way to enter the regular season. Particularly disappointing were the Canadiens players on the bubble. Kenny Agostino did nothing to distinguish himself from fellow forwards. Michael Chaput had another poor effort with giveaways leading to a goal against and a meaningless fight. On defence Xavier Ouellet continues to make mental mistakes. The Simon Despres experiment has been a disaster throughout the pre-season. Despres has stated that the pace in exhibition games has been a big adjustment for him coming from the KHL. He would be in over his head once the regular season begins. The best player on the ice for the Canadiens tonight was Joel Armia. He has been placed throughout the lineup in the pre-season and has handled well each and every assignment. With respect to roster decisions, Nikita Scherbak and Jacob de la Rose should make the 23-man roster with Chaput and Kenny Agostino heading to Laval. In an ideal world, Despres should be released from his PTO and Ouellet should be sent to the Rocket. And Brett Lernout should be recalled by the Habs. === ▲ Joel Armia ▼ Simon Despres, Michael Chaput, Jeff Petry, Jordie Benn, Noah Juulsen, Xavier Ouellet, Matthew Peca

Statistics
CANADIENS		SENATORS
19	Shots	31
48	Face-offs	52
0-for-1	Power Play	1-for-3
11	Penalty Minutes	7
35	Hits	25
	Corsi For

Scoring

FINAL	1	2	3	OT	SO	T
Canadiens (4-3-0)	0	0	0	–	–	0
Senators (2-4-0)	1	2	0	–	–	3

Scorers	Goalies
MTL: No scoring. TOR: Pyatt (1), Duchene (3), Ryan (1)-PPG,	MTL: Price (L), Niemi TOR: Anderson (W)

NHL Three Stars
	Matt Duchene OTT Mark Stone OTT Craig Anderson OTT

Video Highlights

Post-game Press Conference

Claude Julien

“I thought that our whole team was flat tonight.”

Joel Armia

“I feel my play has been better every game and that’s a good thing.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

Social Media: Follow @AllHabs on Twitter

https://twitter.com/Habsterix/status/1046193739180339200

I have a feeling Brett Lernout will be an early season call-up… Disappointing pre-season for multiple #Habs defenders. @AllHabs @TheAHLReport @HabsUnfiltered

— Matt Smith (@Snakebite350) September 30, 2018

Canadiens Connection Podcast | All Eyes on Habs Kotkaniemi [S1/E2] https://t.co/2Tz42fyOrB @RocketSports pic.twitter.com/QonRcXzUwN

— All Habs (Canadiens) (@AllHabs) September 29, 2018

Join our talented @RocketSports team! Currently looking to add sports writers, photographers and podcast producers. https://t.co/RZwfzrNj4J #Habs #GoHabsGo #NHL #podcast pic.twitter.com/TU2MZ7gm1w

— All Habs (Canadiens) (@AllHabs) September 22, 2018

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