The Canadian finished his preparatory schedule by perhaps finding an answer to one of the many questions related to his training.
Cole Caufield broke the tie late in the third period and the Montreal club defeated the Ottawa Senators 6-4 on Saturday at the Canadian Tire Centre.
The Canadian therefore concludes his preparatory schedule with a 3-3-0 record. He was counting on a much more seasoned team than that of the Senators on Saturday.
Rafael Harvey-Pinard got his audition alongside Nick Suzuki and Caufield on the first line, after Alex Newhook, Sean Monahan and Josh Anderson. The Quebecer had a good game and passed to Caufield on the winning goal late in the third period.
Harvey-Pinard could thus have won the favor of head coach Martin St-Louis to start the season on the Canadiens’ first unit.
On the defensive side, Justin Barron, Mattias Norlinder and Gustav Lindstrom had one last chance to earn points. Barron is the one of the three who perhaps had the most difficult match. Norlinder generated some interesting attacks and had an assist on his team’s fourth goal, while Lindstrom was rather discreet.
Suzuki and Monahan each had a goal and an assist, while Juraj Slafkovsky, Michael Pezzetta and Arber Xhekaj also scored. Jordan Harris had two assists and Samuel Montembeault made 21 saves.
For the Senators, Parker Kelly, Roby Jarventie, Ridly Greig and Dominik Kubalik hit the target. Mads Sogaard stopped 32 shots.
The Canadian will begin the regular season on Wednesday by visiting the Toronto Maple Leafs. He will play his home opener at the Bell Center next Saturday, when Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks will be the visitors.
On a roller coaster
Slafkovsky quickly gave the Canadian the lead after 33 seconds of play, taking advantage of a generous return from Sogaard.
The Senators responded 71 seconds later. Kelly took advantage of a loose puck in front of the net and surprised Montembeault.
The Canadian threatened on the power play, but Sogaard made an acrobatic save at the expense of Caufield.
A little later, Joel Armia hit the crossbar during another Habs power play.
Pezzetta gave the Canadian the lead with 5:56 left in the first period. He beat Sogaard with a good one-timer from the top of the slot, following a pass from Jake Evans.
The Senators came close to tying the game on the power play early in the second period. However, the disc came to rest on the back of Montembeault’s leg, who was lying on the ice.
Suzuki widened the lead to 3-1 at 8:26. He stole the puck from Mark Kastelic in the neutral zone, then used Erik Brannstrom as a screen to surprise Sogaard with a long wrist shot.
Once again, the Senators responded quickly, 47 seconds later this time. Kubalik took advantage of a pass from Brannstrom during a two-on-one attack and beat Montembeault with a one-timer.
The Canadian continued to threaten on the power play, without however scoring. Then Suzuki completely missed the target after a pass from Harvey-Pinard during a two-on-one attack.
The Senators finally turned things around in the third period.
Jarventie took advantage of a pass from Josh Bailey to escape and beat Montembeault between the legs at 6:05. Greig then accidentally pushed a loose puck in front of the Habs net with his skate, giving the Senators the lead 21 seconds later.
Monahan was credited with the tying goal with 6:03 left in regulation, when he deflected a long shot from Norlinder.
Caufield then gave the Canadian the lead again with 3:30 remaining, on a pass from Harvey-Pinard from behind the net.
Xhekaj scored an insurance goal with 2:02 left. His shot went through the Senators’ net and was awarded after a video review.