CANADIENS
Montreal

4-1

PENGUINS
Pittsburgh

De la Rose – Plekanec – Gallagher
Eller – Galchenyuk – Semin
Fleischmann – Desharnais – Weise
Flynn – Hudon – Scherbak

Markov – Subban
Emelin – Petry
Barberio – Gilbert

Price
Condon

Game Report

Much more like it! Fans were treated to a first look at the Canadiens ‘A’ team. Save for three or four players, the lineup showcased in Quebec City on Monday night could be the one unveiled on October 7th at the Air Canada Centre.  The opening night roster is just a few tweaks on the fourth line and the third defense pairing plus the return of Max Pacioretty away.

So the game should have been a good preview to what we will see for the 2015-’16 campaign. Unfortunately the Penguins didn’t play along icing a C lineup, leaving the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel at home.

Forty minutes in, the Canadiens had just a one-goal lead with the Penguins actually carrying the play for stretches of the second period.  Pittsburgh outshot the Habs 13-11 in the middle frame. Carey Price was in mid-season form robbing Pascal Dupuis with a spectacular save with just over five minutes remaining in the second.

The trio of Alex Galchenyuk, Lars Eller and Alex Semin were a force every time they were on the ice, including on the power-play. The players fighting to stay in Montreal – Charles Hudon, Nikita Scherbak, Mark Barberio – offered little to make a case to be part of the opening night lineup.

The Canadiens are back at the Bell Centre on Thursday to meet the Ottawa Senators.

▲     Carey Price, Lars Eller, Alex Galchenyuk, Alex Semin

▼     Brian Flynn

1.  Alex Galchenyuk  MTL
2.  Lars Eller  MTL
3.  Pascal Dupuis  PIT

• “The start we had really was a by-product of the guys being excited to play this game. They understood the importance of the first professional game at the Videotron Centre. I could sense the guys were excited to come to Quebec City and play.”
• “We’ve sensed the chemistry between [Lars Eller, Alex Galchenyuk, Alex Semin] since Day 1. They have fun playing together. The chemistry has been there all along and they’re continuing to enjoy success. I really like what I see from that line combination. They produced offensively again [against Pittsburgh] and they handled the puck well.”

Lars Eller

• “It’s been feeling better and better with every practice and every game that we play together. We get to learn each other’s tendencies a little more. I’ve played a lot with Chucky (in the past), so I always knew we had a good thing going. But, with (Alex) Semin, he’s fitting in really good. I think we’re starting to find each other more and more. Obviously, there’s room for improvement, but the fact that (we’re doing well) early is very encouraging.“
• “[Chucky and I] just both had a lot of different linemates the last couple of years. We’re just building off where we left off. I like playing with him and I think he likes playing with me. We can both finish and we can both pass. We try to be aggressive and force turnovers, and Semin is doing those same things. I think all three of us are having fun right now.”
• “You can’t underestimate winning in the preseason. I’ve seen a lot of teams lose a lot of games in the preseason. I remember that was us three or four years ago. You get off to a bad start as well, and now you start chasing. I think what we needed to do was bring the right attitude regardless of their lineup, and I think we did. I don’t think we played our best, but we came out with the right attitude, we had the right effort and we won. We felt a little bit better about ourselves than we did before the game.”