The Montreal Canadiens managed to get their first victory in a preseason game thanks to their leaders leading the way with a 4-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday night at the Bell Centre.
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Captain Nick Suzuki and his trusty sidekick Cole Caufield made their debuts this pre-season and did not disappoint. With CH trailing 3-2 after 40 minutes, the dynamic duo took matters into their own hands.
The two attackers were accomplices in the net of their linemate Sean Monahan and Suzuki also served Caufield, who scored the winning goal after a shot that was partially parried by Joonas Korpisalo.
Brandon Gignac and Juraj Slafkovsky gave the local heroes the lead in the first third. After good preparatory work by Kirby Dach and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, the young Slovak jumped onto a puck that no one could control. Remember, the first overall pick in the 2022 draft hasn’t played since January 15th.
Dach had a good game, he also asserted himself physically. In the second third he sent Egor Sokolov to the ground with a powerful shoulder strike.
Mathieu Joseph is part of the transaction rumors, but he is not distracted. The Quebecer scored two goals in this encounter. He scored his first goal with a devastating wrist throw that surprised Jake Allen, and he scored his second in similar fashion at the expense of Cayden Primeau.
Separately, defenseman Mike Matheson was removed from the lineup shortly before kickoff and replaced by Kaiden Guhle. The Canadian specified that this was a preventative measure.
The Habs will play three straight games against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday, Saturday and Monday.