Canadiens Shut Out Senators 5-0 in Overly Chippy Preseason Affair

The Ottawa Senators may have technically been the home team against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday in Quebec City. However, they had good reason to be booed out of the Videotron Centre, losing 5-0 to the Habs in a game in which the “visitors” made them pay time and again on the power play for their lack of discipline in a fight-filled affair.

Game Recap

Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes remained perfect in the preseason to earn the shutout. Meanwhile, forward Kirby Dach closed the scoring in the third on an impressive display of hand-eye coordination, tipping a Brendan Gallagher pass out of the air behind Senators goalie Leevi Merilainen. Coming midway through the final frame, it was the Habs’ third power-play goal of the game (officially on seven chances), this one with Senators forward Nick Cousins in the penalty box for a needless slash on Ivan Demidov.

While Dach’s goal, his second point, effectively ended the contest with a close-to-zero chance of a comeback, the Senators had other plans, just not with regard to getting on the scoreboard. Five minutes later, Sens defenseman Donovan Sebrango decided to singlehandedly take their frustrations out on Dach by instigating a fight with the Canadiens forward and tackling him to the ground, accruing 17 penalties in minutes on the one play.

The Senators’ indiscipline resulted in another (seven-minute) power play for the Canadiens, on which a seemingly (and thankfully) no-worse-for-wear Dach got ice time. However, one gets the sense they were content to just run out the clock in a game that had long since been decided and was at risk of getting (more) out of hand. Dating back to late in the second period, when the powder keg initially exploded after Senators forward Hayden Hodgson hit Canadiens forward Alex Newhook from behind only to then take physical exception to Alexandre Carrier sticking up for his teammate, the Habs had long since proven their point:

This edition of the Canadiens won’t be easily pushed around.

Hodgson may have had his way with Carrier. However, before the next faceoff, Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble decisively won their own, simultaneous fights against Zack MacEwen and Jan Jenik. While Struble had cross-checked Jenik in the face before squaring off, the Canadiens nevertheless got a full two-minute, two-man advantage when all was said and done. They didn’t end up scoring on that power play, but they didn’t really need to, with their three total power-play goals in the contest, the other two coming off the sticks of Patrik Laine in the second to make the score 2-0 and Lane Hutson in the third to make it 4-0.

Oliver Kapanen opened the scoring early in the first off a nice pass from Alex Newhook from behind the net. Carrier rounded out the scoring off a perfectly placed top-corner shot that made it 3-0 midway through the game, with Hodgson lighting the fuse on the game’s extracurricular activities by fighting the former a handful of minutes later.

The two teams close out their respective preseason schedules on Saturday, against one another at the Bell Centre, where the Canadiens will be the clear-cut hosts. The Habs are 4-1 so far this preseason, the Sens, who also visit the St. Louis Blues on Thursday, are 2-2.