Canadiens split-squad shows scoring touch in Montreal, PK issues in Ottawa

The Montreal Canadiens offered a stark contrast in split-squad pre-season games against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night. A veteran-heavy lineup at the Bell Centre skated to a confident win, while a younger group in Kanata saw its strong start wiped out by repeated breakdowns on the penalty kill against a near full-strength Senators roster.

Bell Centre: veterans drive a solid 4-2 win

In Montreal, the evening opened with a family storyline as Ryan Suzuki took the opening faceoff against his brother and Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki. Ottawa struck first after a disputed interference call on Florian Xhekaj, with Tomasino tipping home the 1-0 goal. The lead was short-lived, as Chris Kreider powered to the net to bury a feed from Nick Suzuki and level the score.

The Senators regained the advantage on a power-play blast from Tyler Boucher, making Montreal pay for another trip to the box. Early in the second period, the Canadiens answered on their own man advantage when Noah Dobson hammered a point shot through traffic to tie the game. As the physical tone ramped up, Tyler Thorpe and Djibril Touré traded heavy hits, and Touré began targeting Alex Newhook with robust checks.

Samuel Montembeault replaced Jacob Fowler and quickly became a standout, turning aside a flurry of high-danger chances during a difficult Canadiens penalty kill. Despite their struggles while short-handed, Montreal emerged from the second period without injuries. In the third, Juraj Slafkovsky took over with a strong individual effort to put the Canadiens ahead 3-2, and Philip Danault later added insurance to seal a 4-2 victory. A pre-arranged shootout followed regardless of the final score, with Newhook providing the winning attempt to cap a productive night for the home squad.

Kanata: four Senators power-play goals sink Canadiens

At Canadian Tire Centre, it was the Canadiens who opened the scoring. Brett Berard finished off quick work at the side of the net with Sasha Pastujov to give Montreal an early lead. Moments later, Alex Belzile sailed the puck over the glass from his own zone, handing Ottawa its first power play. The Canadiens killed that opportunity, but a subsequent slashing minor to Samuel Poulin on Michael Amadio proved costly, as Claude Giroux tied the game with a far-side slapshot.

Despite trailing 11-7 on the shot clock after one period, Montreal hung with what looked very close to Ottawa’s regular-season group. Berard generated the Canadiens’ best looks, scoring once and creating another quality chance, while Berard and Pastujov showed strong chemistry. On the back end, Adam Engström and David Reinbacher logged roughly eight minutes apiece in the opening frame to lead Montreal in ice time.

The second period is where things unravelled. Reinbacher was called for tripping while stepping up at the blue line to deny a zone entry, and during that kill Engström accidentally flipped the puck into the stands, briefly leaving Montreal with an extended five-skater situation. Ottawa pounced, first with Drake Batherson drilling home their second power-play goal, then with Carter Yakemchuk cutting through the slot and beating the Canadiens goaltender short-side for a third man-advantage marker.

A power play for Montreal after Thomas Chabot hauled down Filip Mešár could have shifted momentum, but the best chance came the other way on an Ottawa two-on-one while short-handed. Engström managed a couple of shots from the blue line, but none seriously threatened Linus Ullmark, and the Senators carried control into the third period.

In the final frame, the parade to the penalty box continued. Reinbacher was again whistled for tripping, followed shortly by an Arber Xhekaj infraction that gave Ottawa a four-on-three advantage. Montreal responded at even strength when Jayden Struble led a rush and set up Belzile, who pulled the puck around Ullmark to bring the Canadiens closer. Pastujov then capitalized on an errant Senators back-pass, stepping into the slot and firing high over Ullmark’s glove to tie the game.

Any chance at a full comeback slipped away on yet another extended kill. After Belzile deftly handled a lob pass into the offensive zone, he absorbed a heavy hit that sparked Samuel Poulin to go after Nick Cousins, resulting in a double-minor and misconduct. With two Montreal forwards losing their sticks on the sequence, William Eklund buried Ottawa’s fourth power-play goal of the night. A later high-sticking call against Belzile, offset by roughing on Hayden Hodgson, and a final late push featuring Pastujov and Bedard were denied by Ullmark as Ottawa closed out the win.

The original recap summed up the night by noting that “the penalty kill proved Montreal’s undoing,” underlining a clear area of concern as the regular season approaches. Engström ended up leading the Canadiens in ice time, with Kirby Dach just behind at over 21 minutes on a day that began with rumours of a potential trade sending Dach to the Edmonton Oilers to join his brother Colton, giving scouts an extended look at the centre in all situations.