Canadiens Lineup

Jonathan Drouin – Christian Dvorak – Josh Anderson

Rafaël Harvey-Pinard – Jake Evans – Joel Armia

Lukas Vejdemo – Ryan Poehling – Alex Belzile

Michael Pezzetta – Jan Mysak – Alexandre Fortin

Kaiden Guhle – David Savard

Sami Niku – Ben Chiarot

Gianni Fairbrother – Chris Wideman

Jake Allen – Kevin Poulin

Joel Edmundson (undisclosed), Carey Price (knee), Paul Byron (hip), Mike Hoffman (lower-body), Cedric Paquette (groin), Cole Caufield (shoulder), Mattias Norlinder (undisclosed)

Game Report

After a week of practice, the Canadiens headed to Ottawa to implement their coach’s systems into game action. The Senators aren’t expected to contend for a playoff spot this season but they are an organization loaded with youthful talent. Four of Ottawa’s young guns – Alex Formenton, Josh Norris, Drake Batherson and Shane Pinto – combined for 11 points in a rout of the Habs on Friday night.

On the Montreal side, it wasn’t a notable game for many players, but clearly it was the Canadiens veterans who struggled mightily. This week, we heard David Savard asked the media not to compare himself to Shea Weber. There was no confusion about his identity in this game as Savard was on the ice for five Ottawa goals.

Dominique Ducharme had planned to give goaltender Jake Allen the full game on Friday but pulled him after two periods. Allen gave up six goals on 29 shots for a .793 save percentage. Allen wasn’t helped by his defence but was beat far too often by stoppable shots.

Kevin Poulin replaced Allen and promptly gave up a goal just 14 seconds into the third period.

Contributions from Youth

The Canadiens best line was led by Ryan Poehling who dominated possession five-on-five with shots attempts 12-5. Poehling also had a solid night at the faceoff dot winning 55 percent of his draws in 16:24 of icetime. And in a lopsided loss, it’s a positive to note that Poehling had an even rating.

Once again, Ducharme did no favors for Poehling providing him with two AHL wingers.

Even on a night when his defence partner was really struggling, Kaiden Guhle made the smart play, skated well and was physical in his 21:31 of icetime. And newcomer Chris Wideman assisted on both of the Canadiens goals.

Sami Niku played just 5:24 in the first period before exiting with a cut to the face resulting from a dangerous hit from behind into the glass by Josh Norris. Niku entered concussion protocol and did not return. Playing in his  first pre-season game, Niku skated well and created offensive chances in the Ottawa zone in his short stint.

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