The Montreal Canadiens wrapped up their preseason calendar on Saturday night with a 3-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators. For the better part of 60 minutes, it looked like just about everyone on the ice was more interested in keeping themselves off the injury list than trying to do anything special. It wasn’t all that surprising to see after how violent their previous meeting was, and it seems the mission was accomplished, as there doesn’t appear to be anyone on that list following the game.
This isn’t a game where you can really learn much about the team, and that’s just fine. This was nothing more for them than a final opportunity to get their game legs under them before they’ll actually be playing for points in the standings.
Cole Caufield gets the least Cole Caufield style goal of his life. #gohabsgo pic.twitter.com/pSoUaC4WsC
— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) October 5, 2025
The top line of Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Cole Caufield seemed to turn it on a bit in the third period, and gave a glimpse of how dominant they can be. Still, they too were mostly treating this as a glorified scrimmage. It wouldn’t have made much sense for them to go all out in a meaningless game, as we know what that trio can do when something is actually being played for.
Joe Veleno and Sammy Blais were two guys who seemed to be putting forth their best efforts, but they are still trying to win a spot on the opening night roster, so it made sense for them to give a little extra. Final cuts should be announced today, so we should have a pretty good idea of what the lineup will look like in Toronto this week.
Overall, there have been plenty of encouraging things to come from this preseason, and evidently some question marks around what the ideal lineup might be. Clarity should come shortly on that front, and the next time we see them in action, we’ll be able to judge the on-ice product a little more critically.
Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available wherever you get your podcasts. We’ll be back this Wednesday night for the season opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
