- The 2025-26 season is just about to begin, and the players are about to work themselves into game shape over a couple of weeks of pre-season play. Half of the Montreal Canadiens’ opening-night roster is in action for the opening game versus the Pittsburgh Penguins.
First period
- A line of Patrik Laine, Oliver Kapanen, and Ivan Demidov plays the game’s first shift in the offensive zone, with a couple of shots.
- Adam Engström gets beat at the blue line on his first shift and is forced into a hooking penalty. That’s not the start he was hoping for.
- Lucas Condotta, Alex Belzile, Owen Beck, and Jared Davidson are the first four penalty-killing forwards this evening.
- Bokondji Imama races in to punch Mike Matheson in the back of the head after Matheson cleared the crease in front of Samuel Montembeault. Montreal gets a power-play chance.
- A few oohs as Laine gets off a one-timer.
- Some louder cheers as the Finn goes one-on-one with Connor Clifton and dekes the defenceman off his feet before Ryan Graves has to come in with a hook to create a five-on-three.
- Just a couple of attempts on the power play, but people finding their passing touch in the opening pre-season game isn’t a bad thing.
- Davidson heads off for boarding. It looks like we’re going to see a lot of special teams practice this evening.
- Tristan Broz scores on the power play, and there goes Montembeault’s dream of a perfect season.
- Robby Fabbri charges at Demidov. Josh Anderson is immediately over to protect the Calder favourite. You’ll accept that, while wondering why there was no original call.
- Montembeault makes a great pad save on a cross-crease pass that got through Noah Dobson.
- Demidov banks the puck off the boards and spins off his check, but can’t catch up with the puck to make it a two-on-one. Great attempt, though.
- Josh Anderson gets tripped and falls into Connor Clifton. The ref calls Anderson for tripping.
- I don’t think these refs are surviving the first wave of pre-season cuts.
Second period
- With the penalty killed, Anderson line gets a shift and spends it in Pittsburgh’s zone. Perhaps the Canadiens can build some momentum if the game stays at five-on-five.
- The Canadiens are slowly increasing their competitive level as the period goes on, fighting for more pucks.
- Alex Belzile gets run from behind. Davidson sees no penalty is being called, and drops his gloves with Samuel Poulin. Both players land some major blows.
- With the period half played, in comes Jacob Fowler.
- Montreal’s best chance of the game falls to Jake Evans’s stick, but he sends it through the crease and out the other side.
- Demidov has gone to the dressing room, apparently, but as I am typing this he’s already returned to the bench. Maybe — hopefully — just an equipment thing.
- Laine gets hauled down to draw his second penalty of the night. Montreal will have a minute to try to tie up the game before the intermission.
- A couple of nice moves from Demidov to set up Oliver Kapanen a few times, but no goal yet.
Third period
- The period starts with another good setup from tonight’s top power-play unit, and another penalty for some more five-on-three time.
- Martin St-Louis uses his timeout to draw up a play for these 37 seconds.
- Kapanen won the faceoff, later set up Dobson, and there are still 24 seconds to go.
- This time a scrambled draw doesn’t go Montreal’s way and the five-on-three ends.
- But just as the second power play is expiring, Beck whacks away at the puck and finally gets one to go in Pittsburgh’s net.
Owen Beck sticks with the play, pots his own rebound to get the Habs on the board!
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) September 22, 2025 at 10:03 PM
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- Suddenly a big shot disparity is down to seven, and Montreal is going right back to the power play.
- Mesar is probably the player who looks the best on the man advantage tonight. He thrives with a bit of space to work with, but he’s also doing a lot of his work from near the net.
- It’s all Montreal in this period.
- The puck flutters off the post behind Fowler. The first puck he hasn’t seen since he came into the net.
- Regulation ends with shots 32-29 for Pittsburgh. That was a quality 20 minutes from Montreal.
Overtime
- Now for Demidov and Hutson at three-on-three.
- And Kapanen on this first shift to help win the faceoff.
- Matheson’s stick breaks, but he holds the two pieces together to front the oncoming attacker. Smart play.
- A great save from Fowler as he stretches across the crease to keep the game going.
Jacob Fowler, take a bow kid!
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) September 22, 2025 at 10:42 PM
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- Dobson sets up Demidov for a one-timer, but a toe save is made.
- Now it’s Sergei Murashov’s turn to save the game for Pittsburgh off Matheson’s shot.
Shootout
- I wonder when Demidov will go in the shootout.
- He goes first. And gets poke-checked.
- That’s okay, don’t show the A move in a meaningless game.
- Fowler stops Anthony Mantha.
- Laine is up next. He goes for a shot, but misses far-side.
- Fowler makes another calm save.
- Sean Farrell goes in slow and tries to flip the puck over Murashov. He doesn’t get it high enough, but he still gets credit for calling his shot as it flutters up and over.
- Fowler gets beat five-hole for his first goal against, and we continue on.
- Mesar makes a great fake, but is stopped by the post.
- Ben Kindel is denied by Fowler’s pad.
- Kapanen gets Murashov down and out and simply has to tuck it in to put Montreal in the lead.
- Fowler snares the final shot, and that’s a pre-season-opening win for the Habs.
- Right back at it tomorrow versus the Philadelphia Flyers, when we’ll see Nick Suzuki and Lane Hutson on the ice.
