Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Sean Monahan led the Montreal Canadiens to a victory over the Ottawa Senators in preseason action.

GAME RECAP | Ottawa Senators vs Montreal Canadiens

Canadiens Lineup

Forward lines
22 Cole Caufield  14 Nick Suzuki  91 Sean Monahan
49 Rafael Harvey-Pinard  77 Kirby Dach  20 Juraj Slafkovsky
24 Lias Andersson  48 Filip Mesar  51 Emil Heineman
80 Gabriel Bourque  74 Brandon Gignac  76 Jared Davidson

Defense pairings
21 Kaiden Guhle   58 David Savard
84 William Trudeau  26 Jonathan Kovacevic
59 Mattias Norlinder  36 Brady Keeper  

Goaltenders
34 Jake Allen
30 Cayden Primeau

Out of the lineup
Scratches: Jesse Ylonen, Alex Newhook, Josh Anderson, Owen Beck, Joshua Roy, Michael Pezzetta, Mitchell Stephens, Sean Farrell, Xavier Simoneau, Lucas Condotta, Nathan Legare, David Reinbacher, Arber Xhekaj, Justin Barron, Jordan Harris, Logan Mailloux, Jakub Dobes

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

Game Report

In the Canadiens second preseason game, Marty St. Louis iced a first line worthy of a regular season game. The trio of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Sean Monahan recorded five points delivering a Montreal preseason win for the first time since 2021.

On the other side, after two home victories, the Senators sent the 'C' squad on the road to face the Habs. Ottawa's lineup was heavily populated with rugged players destined for Belleville. This led to some ugly moments in the game with Senators skaters including Zack MacEwen, Mark Kastelic and Donovan Sebrango taking liberties.

In addition to the top line looking potent in this game, Kirby Dach was engaged all over the ice, creating scoring chances for his linemates and playing a physical game against the Senators. Dach was also dominant at the faceoff dot with a 61.5 percent success rate.

Juraj Slafkovsky benefited from the slower pace of the game. The number one pick of the 2022 draft took advantage of a loose puck to score his first goal of the preseason. He looked relieved, and after scoring, played much more comfortable  game than on Monday night.

Scheduled to play, Mike Matheson was a last minute scratch for "precautionary reasons." Kaiden Guhle stepped into his spot on the first defensive pairing and played a superb game. Guhle was a shot blocking machine and was effective at clearing bodies from the crease.

While minutes for the forwards were divided up in favor of established NHL'ers, Emil Heineman and Jared Davidson played well in their limited ice-time. Both players are making a strong statement at camp.

In goal, Jake Allen and Cayden Primeau shared the duties. Facing a less-skilled Senators lineup, both Canadiens goaltenders played a solid game.

Game Statistics

Canadiens (1-1-0)
Shots: 21
Face-off %: 62.9
Power play: 1/6
Penalty minutes: 22
Hits: 17
Blocks: 23

Senators (2-1-0)
Shots: 30
Face-off %: 37.1
Power play: 1/8
Penalty minutes: 18
Hits: 23
Blocks: 11

Scoring Summary

Canadiens Scorers
1st period: Gignac (1), Slafkovsky (1)
2nd period: No scoring 
3rd period: Monahan (1), Caufield (1)-PPG
OT: n/a
SO: n/a

Senators Scorers
1st period: No scoring 
2nd period: Kubalik (1)-PPG, Joseph (1), Joseph (2)
3rd period: No scoring 
OT: n/a
SO: n/a

Goaltenders
MTL: Allen, Primeau (W) 1-0-0
OTT: Korpisalo (L) 0-1-0

Canadiens Players of the Game

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Video Highlights

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qntooH-7Fog[/embed]

Post-game Quotes

Game Preview

Check out the game preview here: Monahan On the Top Trio | PREVIEW: OTT @ MTL

Up Next

The Montreal Canadiens continue their preseason schedule on Friday night in the first of three games in a row against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm ET on Friday, September 29th at the Bell Centre.