Canadiens Lineup

Cole Caufield – Owen Beck – Mike Hoffman

Rem Pitlick – Kirby Dach – Juraj Slafkovsky

Rafael Harvey-Pinard – Filip Mesar – Anthony Richard

Michael Pezzetta – Jan Mysak – Joshua Roy

Mike Matheson – Justin Barron

Kaiden Guhle – Jordan Harris

Gianni Fairbrother – Mattias Norlinder

Jake Allen – Cayden Primeau

Jake Evans, Chris Wideman, Sam Montembeault, Christian Dvorak, Brendan Gallagher, David Savard, Joel Armia, Jonathan Drouin, Mitchell Stephens, Joel Teasdale, Otto Leskinen, Emil Heineman, Jesse Ylonen, Alex Belzile, Evgenii Dadonov, Corey Schueneman, Arber Xhekaj, Nate Schnarr, Lucas Condotta, Riley Kidney, Cam Hillis

Nick Suzuki (lower-body), Josh Anderson (lower-body), Carey Price (knee), Paul Byron (hip), Joel Edmundson (back), Madison Bowey (day-to-day), Logan Mailloux (shoulder)

Game Report

The long summer wait for Canadiens’ faithful was finally over as they had Habs hockey to enjoy from the Bell Centre. For some fans, it was Juraj Slafkovsky that brought them out for late September hockey. The first overall pick in June’s draft played as advertised.

But it was youngsters like Owen Beck, Kaiden Guhle and Jordan Harris that stole the spotlight. Guhle, Harris along with Justin Barron are going to make decision-making very difficult for the Montreal coaching staff. No doubt that Stephane Robidas was thrilled to see Mike Matheson playing 25:35 while notching an assist in being named the game’s first star.

A Cole Caufield goal in the opening pre-season game was just what the doctor ordered for the confidence of the second-year player. But a goal scored on the power-play with a one-timer was a welcome bonus!

While the stage keeps getting larger, Owen Beck continues to impress. Beck did not look out of place centering Caufield and Mike Hoffman. Beck had a 59 per cent success rate at the faceoff dot and was the defensive conscience on a line with two offensive-minded players.

Jake Allen looked solid in a period and a half of work stopping each of the 18 shots he faced. Cayden Primeau’s night did not go as smoothly as the 23-year-old gave up two goals on 13 shots in 30 minutes of work.

While they would have preferred a win, Habs fans seemed content with tonight’s performance. It’s a good thing as this could be a harbinger of what’s ahead for the season: an entertaining game that results in a loss.

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▼  Gianni Fairbrother, Anthony Richard, Cayden Primeau, Mattias Norlinder, Rafael Harvey-Pinard