MONTREAL – The Ottawa Senators’ special teams turned in a superb performance in helping the visitors knock off the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 in NHL pre-season action on Tuesday evening.
Michael Amadio, Adam Gaudette, Ridly Greig and Carter Yakemchuk all scored power-play goals for the Senators (3-1-1 in pre-season), while Jake Evans, Kirby Dach and Oliver Kapanen scored for the Canadiens (2-3), who have lost three in a row.
Montreal enjoyed the majority of the scoring opportunities in the first period, but neither team registered a shot for the first seven minutes.
Evans made the most of his opportunity to open the scoring with seven minutes left in the period. After picking up a loose puck at the top of the right-side faceoff circle, he unleashed a powerful snapshot into the top corner, leaving a screened Linus Ullmark with no chance to stop it.
The Canadiens found themselves in an excellent position to double their lead just minutes later with nearly a full five-on-three power play, but only managed two shots.
The same defensive tempo persisted into the second period, but the Canadiens were able to net a second goal through a few opportunistic bounces of the puck after just four minutes. While trying to centre a pass, Dach — who had left the game after a hit to the head in the first period — would double the Canadiens’ lead after the puck hit two Senators defencemen before slipping between Ullmark’s legs.
At the midway point of the game, Ottawa got a great opportunity to get back in the game after Arber Xhekaj was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct — his second in as many games — after elbowing Tim Stüzle in the head.
The Senators wasted no time getting their first when Amadio jumped on a rebound from point-blank range. They would then turn a one-goal deficit into a 3-2 lead by scoring two more on the man advantage through Gaudette and Greig.
After a deflected shot appeared to have gone in as the clock hit zero, the Canadiens felt they had a tying goal at the buzzer. However, video review confirmed the puck was just a fraction of a second too late to enter the net.
Ottawa’s power play continued its hot streak, adding another just two minutes into the third period. Yakemchuk’s well-placed one-timer beat Cayden Primeau to make it four unanswered Senators goals.
On Montreal’s end, the power play continued to be problematic. In the Canadiens five pre-season games, they have failed to score on any of their 25 attempts including five on Tuesday.
In the second half of the period, Montreal began to ramp up the pressure with their forecheck causing turnovers in the offensive zone as they were finally able to get one back. After a shot from Joshua Roy left a big rebound right in front of goal, Kapanen pounced on the puck and got the Canadiens to within one.
The tying goal was on the edge of Evans’ stick from inside the crease, but he was denied by a phenomenal Ullmark glove save.
UP NEXT
Senators: Visit the Detroit Red Wings on Friday.
Canadiens: Visit the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 1, 2024.
