Montreal Canadiens Red vs White Takeaways | Game Notes

Smiles and cellys were the theme of the day during the annual Montreal Canadiens Red vs. White game at the Bell Centre.

The Canadiens held their annual Red versus White scrimmage on Sunday in front of a sellout crowd at the Bell Centre. Team Red came out with 4-3 shootout victory over Team White. Jared Davidson, Mattias Norlinder and Cole Caufield scored for Red, and Florian Xhekaj, Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Riley Kidney scored for White. Nick Suzuki sealed the win with the shootout winner.

The rules for the scrimmage were different than a typical National Hockey League (NHL) game. The squads played two 30-minute periods of continuous time except for the final five minutes where it was stopped time. The two periods were followed by five minutes of 3-on-3 action. 

Davidson scored the lone goal through the first 30-minutes with a wrist shot that beat Jake Allen on the blocker side. He also had a goal in the shootout against Quentin Miller. 

Davidson has been noticeable through in the first week of main camp. After the contest, assistant coach Alex Burrows described the 21-year-old's week as 'unreal.' On Thursday, Davidson recorded a hat trick and was rewarded with an opportunity to skate for a portion of that scrimmage with Suzuki and Caufield.

On Sunday, Davidson was lined up on a line with his future teammates in Laval, Brandon Gignac and Gabriel Bourque. The 21-year-old signed an American Hockey League (AHL) contract following his five years with the Seattle Thunderbirds in the Western Hockey League (WHL). 

The Canadiens fifth round pick in 2022 collected 82 points in 60 regular season matches and 23 points in 19 playoff matches last season in the WHL.

After allowing four goals and stating that he was not happy with his performance during Saturday's scrimmage, Cayden Primeau stopped all 12 shots that he faced in 30 minutes of action. His most notable save was against Kirby Dach from point blank range with less than six minutes remaining. The goalie is in the process of auditioning for 32 teams across the league.

Tanner Pearson learned 10 minutes before puck drop that he would be completing the duo of Suzuki and Caufield on Sunday afternoon. The chemistry between Suzuki and Caufield is apparent, but Pearson did not look to be a good match for that line. The Canadiens' newest acquisition was quiet up until midway through the second period when he found Caufield in the slot for a goal.

With a sold out crowd at the Bell Centre, $234,836 was raised at the intrasquad game for the Montreal Children's Foundation.

On Sunday, the Canadiens played an intrasquad scrimmage at the Bell Centre.

These were the forward lines, defence pairings and goaltenders for both squads:

Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Tanner Pearson
Emil Heineman – Filip Mesar – Joel Armia
Jared Davidson – Brandon Gignac – Gabriel Bourque
Riley McKay – Jan Mysak – John Parker-Jones

Mike Matheson – Gustav Lindstrom
Matias Norlinder – Brady Keeper
Jayden Struble – Miguel Touringny

Cayden Primeau – Strauss Mann

Sean Monahan – Kirby Dach – Brendan Gallagher
Lias Andersson – Jake Evans – Rafael Harvey-Pinard
Ty Smilanic – Philippe Maillet – Florian Xhekaj
Cedrick Guindon – Riley Kidney – Jakov Novak

William Trudeau – David Savard
Nicolas Beaudin – Johnathan Kovacevic
Tobie Bisson – Olivier Galipeau

Jake Allen – Quentin Miller

The Montreal Canadiens kick off their six-game preseason schedule on Monday against the New Jersey Devils.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET. on Monday September 25th at the Bell Centre.