OTTAWA, ON – You can’t win hockey games if you don’t score.
And that was the case Saturday night as the Ottawa Senators defeated the Canadiens 3-0 at the Canadian Tire Centre.
This game represented the final chance for some players to impress coach Claude Julien and they generally failed to take advantage of the opportunity.
Tom Pyatt, who made his NHL debut with the Canadiens in 2009, opened the scoring at 4:32 of the first period. Michael Chaput, one of the Canadiens’ players who is on the bubble, had his pass intercepted by Max McCormick behind the Montreal net. He dropped a backhand pass to Magnus Paajarvi in the slot. Price made the initial save, but Pyatt buried the rebound with a backhander.
Chaput, Jacob de la Rose, Kenny Agostino and Nikita Scherbak are battling for two roster spots and none of them advanced his cause in this game. They combined for two shots on goal, although Agostino hit a crossbar in the third period. As a team, the Canadiens generated little offence. They were outshot 31-19 as the Ottawa defence concentrated on pushing the Canadiens to the outside.
There’s one spot open on defence and it’s come down to a contest between NHL veterans Xavier Ouellet and Simon Després.
In the early stages of the preseason, Julien said the worst-case scenario for Ouellet was he would be a guy who could be called up from Laval if there was an injury. Ouellet, who has a two-way contract, is likely to make the opening-night roster because there has been an injury. David Schlemko is out for six weeks with a knee injury and that provides Ouellet with an opportunity.
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Després is nearly two years removed from his last NHL game. He played the season opener for Anaheim in 2016, but spent the rest of the season dealing with concussion issues and the Ducks bought him out. He played in the KHL last season and is in camp on a professional tryout.
Julien said Saturday he likes what he has seen from Després and he could be that guy waiting for the call-up from Laval. The Canadiens must decide whether he has enough of an upside to merit a contract.
Price played the first two periods and gave up three goals on 21 shots. The third Ottawa goal was a power-play effort by Bobby Ryan at 13:34 as penalty-killing continues to be a problem for the Canadiens. All three goals against Price were scored from within six feet of the net.
The Canadiens are banking on Price to bounce back after the worst season in his pro career. His save percentage in four preseason appearances is below .850, but some of the blame has to be placed on a defence that is a work in progress.
Antti Niemi played the final period and his first stop was a pad save on a breakaway by Alex Formenton. He faced 10 shots and stopped them all.
