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.
“It was an emotional (game) for sure. There were some emotions running high tonight, but that’s hockey and that’s part of the game,” said Senators head coach Travis Green. “I like that we won, I like that our power play and penalty kill were good, but five-on-five was a little rowdy at times.”
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 make the save.
The Canadiens found themselves in excellent position to double their lead just minutes later with nearly a full five-on-three power play but only managed two shots.
The power play — where Montreal has placed in the bottom six for the last three years — has continued to be problematic during the pre-season. In the Canadiens' last five games, they have failed to score on any of their 25 attempts, including five on Tuesday.
The same defensive tempo persisted into the second period, but the Canadiens were able to net a second goal through a fortuitous series of 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.
Ottawa got a great opportunity to get back in the game at the midway point of the middle frame when 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.
“Every time you get a five-minute penalty, you try and score as many goals as you can,” said Gaudette. “It’s always good to contribute. Especially when your top guys go down, the bottom-line guys have to step up.”
In addition to Stüzle, Brady Tkachuk and Thomas Chabot also left the game and did not return as all three will be evaluated on Wednesday.
“We have to be more disciplined and calculating as a group. You take a look at this game at even strength, and we outshot them 26-6,” said Canadiens head coach Martin St Louis. “We’re going to keep working on the penalty kill but I loved our five-on-five game tonight.”
The Senators wasted no time getting their first goal 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 entering 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.
“Every single game I get more and more confident, more and more comfortable so I just have to keep it rolling from here,” said Yakemchuk. “Everyone kind of rallied together (for the injured players) and we got it done in the end.”
In the second half of the period, the Canadiens 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.
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