The Montreal Canadiens will host the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night in a preseason game. Although there will be many players on both sides who will not be present once the regular season kicks off, this will be the Canadiens’ first look at the Senators under the new guidance of former Habs farm team head coach Guy Boucher.
The Canadiens have thus far split their first two preseason games with a loss to the New Jersey Devils followed by a win against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday. The Senators have also won one preseason game against the Toronto Maple Leafs and lost a second one in overtime to the Buffalo Sabres.
How to Watch
Start time: 7:30 PM EDT
In the Canadiens region (French): RDS
In the Senators region: TSN5
Elsewhere: NHL GameCentre Live, NHL Center Ice
Last season the Canadiens tied the season series with Ottawa, each taking two games, however the Canadiens did squeeze out a fifth point by losing one of those games in overtime.
Montreal will still be playing several non-roster players, however the regular roster is slowly filling out, with the returns of Max Pacioretty and Tomas Plekanec, playing for the first time with the team this season after returning from the World Cup of Hockey. Andrei Markov and Alexei Emelin for their part will return to practice by the end of the week and be available for some pre-season games by the weekend. Only star goaltender Carey Price and new defender Shea Weber remain at the World Cup.
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In addition to Plekanec and Pacioretty returning to the lineup, Mikhail Sergachev will also make his preseason debut after returning from an upper-body injury. He sustained that injury against the very same Senators during the Rookie Tournament on a late hit into the boards. Thankfully it wasn’t too serious, and he will be able to return in time to get a few preseason games under his belt.
Montreal released amateur tryout forward Giovanne Fiore from his contract on Wednesday in the first trimming of the roster. He will now return to the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.
Mike Condon will get the start, and it is no exaggeration to say that he needs to take every single opportunity to make a good impression, as he is in the thick of battle for the backup job with the team. He will be backed-up by Charlie Lindgren who has looked spectacular thus far in preseason play, and is arguably turning the battle for backup into a three-horse race.
| Left Wing |
Center |
Right Wing |
| Max Pacioretty | Alex Galchenyuk | Brendan Gallagher |
| Artturi Lehkonen | Tomas Plekanec | Sven Andrighetto |
| Daniel Carr | David Desharnais | Charles Hudon |
| Bobby Farnham | Michael McCarron | Chris Terry |
| Left Defense |
Right Defense |
| Nathan Beaulieu | Greg Pateryn |
| Mikhail Sergachev | Mark Barberio |
| Joel Hanley | Zach Redmond |
| Goaltenders |
| Mike Condon |
| Charlie Lindgren |
On Wednesday the Senators sent top 2016 draft pick Logan Brown back to the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League. Expected to play forward on Thursday will be Kyle Turris, Bobby Ryan, Derick Brassard, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, as well as former Habs Tom Pyatt and Mike Blunden. On defence the Senators should count on Cody Ceci, Chris Wideman, Matt Bartkowski, and Mark Borowiecki among others. Dion Phaneuf and Erik Karlsson will both not be playing.
