In a roller coaster game against an AHL lineup, the Montreal Canadiens rallied with three goals in the final period for a win.

GAME RECAP | Ottawa Senators vs Montreal Canadiens

Canadiens Lineup

Forwards

22 Cole Caufield 14 Nick Suzuki 49 Rafael Harvey-Pinard
15 Alex Newhook 77 Kirby Dach 20 Juraj Slafkovsky
51 Emil Heineman 91 Sean Monahan 40 Joel Armia
55 Michael Pezzetta 71 Jake Evans 56 Jesse Ylonen

Defensemen

8 Mike Matheson 27 Gustav Lindstrom
59 Mattias Norlinder 52 Justin Barron
72 Arber Xhekaj 54 Jordan Harris

Goaltenders

Starter: 35 Sam Montembeault

Alternate: 30 Cayden Primeau

Out of the lineup

Scratches: Josh Anderson, Kaiden Guhle, Brendan Gallagher, Tanner Pearson, David Savard, Jonathan Kovacevic

Injuries: Christian Dvorak (lower body), Carey Price (lower body), Chris Wideman (upper body)

Game Report

Coming into the game, the Ottawa Senators had earned a 6-1-0 record in the preseason. Seemingly satisfied and not wanting to further risk injury, Ottawa dressed a lineup devoid of stars, leaning heavily on their Belleville affiliate for players to fill out a lineup card. Dominik Kubalik, with a $2.5 million salary, was the highest paid skater in the match.

Montreal rested a handful of players but dressed an NHL caliber roster for this game. What should have been a cake walk turned into a back-and-forth affair.

The result took a back seat to the personnel decisions that will have to be made over the next few hours.

Jesse Ylonen, Justin Barron and Gustav Lindstrom helped their cases to stay with the Canadiens. Mattias Norlinder and Emil Heineman will be on edge wondering if they did enough to earn an opening night spot.

The goaltending situation didn't make itself any clearer. It's looking more and more that Kent Hughes will start the season with three goaltenders on the roster.

Sam Montembeault has had a tough camp, and has been unable to offer one solid start in the preseason. Montembeault's movements have been sluggish and his rebound control has been dreadful. 

Marty St. Louis was encouraged that the Canadiens finished the exhibition schedule with a 3-3-0 record. Last year, in eight games, Montreal did not win a match.

But there is some caution necessary in the optimism. In five of their six contests, the Canadiens faced a vastly inferior lineup.

In week one of the season, Montreal will head to Toronto for a Wednesday night match against the Maple Leafs, then returning home for a home opener against Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night.

Game Statistics

Canadiens (3-3-0)
Shots: 38
Face-off %: 54.3
Power play: 0/5
Penalty minutes: 10
Hits: 17
Blocks: 9

Senators (6-2-0)
Shots: 25
Face-off %: 45.7
Power play: 0/3
Penalty minutes: 14
Hits: 19
Blocks: 17

Scoring Summary

Canadiens Scorers
1st period: Slafkovsky (1), Pezzetta (1)
2nd period: Suzuki (1)
3rd period: Monahan (1), Caufield (1), Xhekaj (1)
OT: n/a
SO: n/a

Senators Scorers
1st period: Kelly (1)
2nd period: Kubalik (1)
3rd period: Jarventie (1), Greig (1)
OT: n/a
SO: n/a

Goaltenders
MTL: Montembeault (W)
OTT: Sogaard (L) 

Canadiens Players of the Game (bubble players only)

Justin Barron - The 21-year-old got better as training camp progressed and may have done enough to remain with the big club.

Jesse Ylonen - The Canadiens won't want to risk losing Ylonen on waivers. With his skating, hockey IQ. and work effort, Ylonen has a strong but unspectacular camp.

Gustav Lindstrom - With 128 games of NHL experience, Lindstrom may be seen as having an inside track for a roster spot, but he may find himself in Laval after a quiet camp.

Video Highlights

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mva7a_BrPOw[/embed]

Post-game Quotes

Marty St. Louis

"I liked a lot of things about our game. The guys trust our system. We stayed in the game. We forced them to make mistakes."

Game Preview

Check out the game preview here: One Final Test | PREVIEW: MTL @ OTT

Up Next

The Montreal Canadiens will be off on Sunday. Canadiens management will be busy determining the opening night roster. Practice resumes on Monday.

The Canadiens will be on the road for the opening game of the season against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm ET on Wednesday, October 11th at the Scotiabank Arena.

Be sure to bookmark THN.com/Montreal for year-round coverage of the Montreal Canadiens, Laval Rocket, and Habs prospects playing in leagues around the world.