Canadiens Vs. Senators: Preseason Is Finally Over

Both teams chose a conservative approach in this game, with Montreal Canadiens’ bench boss Martin St-Louis opting not to dress his first line or Kirby Dack, and Travis Green giving an extended night off for Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle and Claude Giroux among other Senators players. Samuel Montembeault and Linus Ullmark both performed in goal for their respective clubs; Samuel Montembeault took on Linus Ullmark.The opening frame saw three goals scored with both teams scoring once. Senators scored first two. Shane Pinto scored both of these goals – one on an Joshua Roy turnover and the other during a five-on-three power play, both set up by Joshua Roy turnovers – Dvorak opened up their scoring after Gallagher battled from close range to get him the puck at close range in front of the net. Within less than two minutes after that goal was scored, Zack MacEwen knocked on Arber Xhekaj’s door possibly in regards to Stutzle incident and may have wanted a word with Arber about what had transpired earlier in game. The Sheriff waited long enough for Sens’ tough guy, Alex Newhook, to initiate the altercation before answering the bell; once he dropped his mitts though it was quickly over. Roy dispossessed Alex Newhook on that shorty without much difficulty and sent a pass right through Newhook’s skates for good measure. Beauceron faced an uphill climb when auditioning to fill in for Patrik Laine this night; only managing six shots on goal over 20 minutes while creating nothing else of note for Montreal. Highlight of their period may have been when Pinto slashed Mailloux; when Xhekaj hit him as an indicator that they were watching him but without crossing any boundaries or crossing into aggressive behavior. St-Louis would prefer the opposite.The final frame lacked much interest; aside from Xhekaj scoring his only goal with an aggressive shot to the points deflected off a Senator’s bodyguard. Guhle made his Canadiens debut a success by earning one assist and blocking four shots – marking an outstanding debut performance from this blueliner. At one point towards the end of the game St-Louis tried pulling Montembeault to try for one last goal but unfortunately couldn’t quite pull off any. Roy made another costly error during what became Montreal’s final real attack sequence during their 4-2 loss to Anaheim. While Montreal coach Paul MacLean continues his search for players worthy of inclusion among Newhook, Dach and Roy for top six roles alongside Newhook and Dach, Roy may have severely compromised himself tonight by showing one more poor showing at camp. Meanwhile Xhekaj undoubtedly enjoyed one of his finest games to date without necessarily scoring anything; instead showing that he can control himself to fulfill his roles efficiently and play them out well. Not by chance did he finally meet with media representatives after Laine was injured to address questions from reporters tonight for the first time since then. Without doubt this has been one of the strangest preseasons I’ve witnessed so far. St-Louis began camp with plans of fielding three lines on October 9, but none participated in their intended deployment during an exhibition game held that weekend which serves as one last rehearsal before game day. Injury has taken the joy out of St-Louis’ preseason experience. Now, with it finally complete and decision time approaching fast for St-Louis fans. Tomorrow will mark a day off for Montreal before heading back into practice on Monday at 10:30 AM at Brossard. Teams have until 5:00 PM Monday afternoon to submit opening-day rosters; as things stand now, Montreal are nearly $2 Million above cap and must become compliant prior to this deadline. Kent Hughes previously announced his desire to avoid placing Price on long-term injured reserve, in order to maximize cap relief, so this move might make sense as Kent could send someone down to Laval simply for cap compliance purposes. Relate Preseason Finale Preview of Canadiens Vs Senators Canadiens Err on Side Of Caution Canadiens My Opening Night Roster Follow Karine Hains @KarineHains Bluesky@karineHainsBskysocial and Threads@KarineHainsBookmark The Hockey News Canadiens page for regular updates from all areas surrounding The Hockey News Canadiens!