Montreal Canadiens vs Ottawa Senators Game Recap: Habs, Line-up, Score, Statistics, Highlights, Post-game, Interviews, NHL, Three-Stars
FINAL | Exhibition Game 3 | Friday October 1, 2021
Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa, ON
CANADIENS
Montreal
2-7
SENATORS
Ottawa
Canadiens Lineup
Forward lines
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
Defence pairings
Kaiden Guhle – David Savard
Sami Niku – Ben Chiarot
Gianni Fairbrother – Chris Wideman
Goaltenders
Jake Allen – Kevin Poulin
Scratches
Injuries
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.
Up Next
Following the game, the Canadiens cut three more players from training camp: Lukas Vejdemo, Jan Mysak and Alexandre Fortin. The Canadiens returned to Montreal to host the Ottawa Senators for a Saturday night match.
Plus
▲ Kaiden Guhle, Ryan Poehling, Lukas Vejdemo, Alex Belzile, Chris Wideman
Minus
▼ David Savard, Jake Allen, Jonathan Drouin, Michael Pezzetta, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Jake Evans, Alexandre Fortin
“We had a slow start but we played better in the second half of the first period. But in the second, we made some mistakes and we gave up a bad goal. It was hard to come back after that, but I wanted to make sure we didn’t quit.”
Chris Wideman
“As a defenceman, I know that anything can happen when you get the puck through to the net, so I just try to get it in deep.”