CANADIENS
Montreal

3-4

CAPITALS
Washington

Eller – Galchenyuk – Semin
Fleischmann – Desharnais – Weise
Hudon – Flynn – Andrighetto
Crisp – McCarron – Thomas

Emelin – Petry
Subban – Markov
Tinordi – Gilbert
Beaulieu – Lernout

Tokarski
Condon

Game Report

It was a typical pre-season game filled with a bit of everything: some head-shaking moments, the occasional special play, and plenty of chippiness.  When the teams exited the ice, the Canadiens were again on the wrong end of a 4-3 score. The game’s three stars were each newcomers to their respective teams.

It was an active first period with a total of four goals scored, two by each side. The Capitals held a wide edge in play with a 15-3 shot advantage in the first frame. On social media, Canadiens fans were critical of starter Dustin Tokarski, who seemed to be fighting the puck at times. But at the other end, Capitals No. 1 netminder, Braden Holtby, allowed two goals on just three shots.

Things didn’t get off to a good start for the Habs and Tokarski with a shot from Andre Burakovsky seemingly going through the Canadiens goaltender just 1:55 into the game.  But it should be said that Burakovsky was left alone in the slot fed by a pass from Justin Williams. Washington’s second goal came as David Desharnais coasted through the neutral zone leaving T.J. Oshie to break into the Canadiens zone ripping one by Tokarski.

Tomas Fleischmann showed patience to get the Canadiens on the board after receiving a perfect pass from Dale Weise. Alex Galchenyuk stole the puck from John Carlson firing it past Holtby to tie the game at two.

In the second period the two teams traded power-play goals. Alex Ovechkin finished off an impressive series of tic-tac-toe passes by the Capitals. Desharnais picked up the Canadiens goal with the man advantage.

But the biggest power-play story of the evening was that the Canadiens had a legitimate one. The first wave of Alex Galchenyuk, Lars Eller, Alex Semin, P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov put pressure on Capitals penalty-killers throughout the game holding possession and creating numerous scoring chances. As Subban said prior to the game, a lethal Habs power-play would cause opponents to fear taking a penalty which would open up 5-on-5 play.

It was a strong night for the Galchenyuk line. Once the season starts, they could provide an offensive threat as a second line with a first trio, comprising of Tomas Plekanec, Brendan Gallagher and Max Pacioretty drawing the toughest assignments.

Mike Condon looked solid as he took over the Canadiens goal for the second half of the game. Condon stopped each of the 21 shots he faced in regulation and overtime giving up the game-deciding goal to T.J. Oshie in the shootout.

The Canadiens are back at the Bell Centre on Friday night to face the Chicago Blackhawks.

▲     Alex Galchenyuk, Alex Semin, Lars Eller, Tomas Fleischmann, Nathan Beaulieu, Andrei Markov, P.K. Subban, Mike Condon

▼     Tom Gilbert, Christian Thomas

1.  T.J. Oshie  WSH
2.  Tomas Fleischmann  MTL
3.  Justin Williams  WSH

• “[Tomas Fleischmann] is an experienced player. He’s able to contribute in a variety of situations. With the lineup we had tonight, I was able to evaluate a number of aspects of his game. We know what type of player he his, but we still have to evaluate the kids. We need to know more about him before we make a decision.”

Alex Galchenyuk

• “We got some chances and made some plays, even though some of them didn’t work out. It’s only the beginning, but it was good to get out there.”

Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby

• “I didn’t do a good enough job, but luckily (Dan) Ellis bailed us out afterwards.”