MONTREAL – Training camp is officially over, and next week the Canadiens turn the page for real. Tuesday’s opener in Toronto is the only game that will count from here, but Saturday’s exhibition finale gave Martin St-Louis one last look at his group split across two rinks. The results canceled each other out: Montreal’s top group beat Ottawa’s reserves 4-2 at the Bell Centre, while the Canadiens’ AHL-heavy travel squad lost 4-3 to the Senators’ regulars in the capital, the club’s first defeat of the preseason. That leaves the Canadiens at 4-1-0 on the exhibition schedule. The split is the least interesting part of the story — how both games were decided is what matters heading into the season.
A Feel-Good Night at the Bell Centre
Samuel Montembeault hadn’t played in front of a home crowd since February 26, and the ovation he got when he stepped onto the ice at the midway point told him the fans hadn’t forgotten him. He backed it up, stopping all 14 shots he faced and closing the door on two Ottawa power plays in the process. Across his three preseason half-games, Montembeault allowed just one goal on 35 shots, a .971 save percentage, and made clear he intends to be more than a name St-Louis has to think about at the trade deadline. “It’s normal to break down a bit as an athlete, but the repair doesn’t just come from luck. It’s everything he put into it,” St-Louis said of his goaltender’s summer.
Chris Kreider is settling into his real estate in the low slot. The 35-year-old scored on a puck that found him parked in his favorite spot in front of the net, after already testing the Senators from the same area earlier in the game. With Ivan Demidov and Lane Hutson given the night off, Noah Dobson ran the top power-play unit in Hutson’s place and rang a shot off the iron, a look at what the Canadiens could turn to if they ever need a second option to complement Hutson’s usual role.
Juraj Slafkovský has had slow starts before, and looked determined not to have another. Skating alongside Alex Newhook and Phillip Danault, a pairing that wasn’t his most familiar, Slafkovský scored the winning goal on a clean shot in the third period and set up Danault’s goal as well. Florian Xhekaj made his own case in the opening minutes, part of a fourth line with Owen Beck and Tyler Thorpe that St-Louis singled out afterward for playing an honest, physical game without losing its identity.
The Depth Squad Falls Just Short in Ottawa
While the group at the Bell Centre leaned on regulars, St-Louis sent Jakub Dobeš and a mix of roster hopefuls to face Ottawa’s projected opening-night lineup. Zachary Bolduc, Oliver Kapanen, Kirby Dach, Arber Xhekaj, Jayden Struble, David Reinbacher and Adam Engström all made the trip, most of them still fighting for a spot on the 23-man roster St-Louis has to submit by Monday at 5 p.m.
Brett Berard opened the scoring on a puck that deflected in off him as he drove the net, but the Senators answered through their power play. Claude Giroux beat Dobeš from the right circle, and after penalties to Reinbacher and Engström gave Ottawa a two-man advantage, Drake Batherson and then Carter Yakemchuk cashed in to make it 3-1. Alex Belzile, again one of the Rocket’s likely top scorers this season, cut the lead in half with a highlight-reel move on a 3-on-1, and Sasha Pastujov tied it less than two minutes later. The game turned again when Samuel Poulin took a retaliation penalty against Nick Cousins, handing Ottawa a four-minute power play that William Eklund converted off a feed from Dylan Cozens for the eventual winner.
The Same Problem Showed Up Twice
Add up both games and all six goals Montreal allowed on Saturday came on the penalty kill. St-Louis, discussing it after the win at home, chose to laugh it off. “Derek’s going to have a job,” he said of associate coach Derek Lalonde, whose new, more aggressive penalty-kill system was the subject of a piece on this site two days ago. The timing was almost too fitting — the unit identified as the offseason’s biggest fix was the exact thing that cost Montreal in both buildings on the same night.
Phillip Danault and Alexandre Carrier had described the new system as easier to read, with fewer gray areas than what Montreal ran a year ago. Against Ottawa’s reserves, that read still cost them: Mike Matheson jumped too aggressively on the first goal and left a soft spot behind him, and Danault and Carrier both pressured the same puck carrier along the wall on the second, leaving Philippe Daoust alone to finish the play. “We were a bit too aggressive, I think. It’s a balance, and we’re going to keep working on it,” St-Louis said. “We can’t be perfect right away, it’s a new system for everybody.”
The Roster Crunch Begins
The Canadiens made their first camp cuts on Saturday, hours before puck drop in either building. Twelve players were reassigned to the Laval Rocket: Vincent Arseneau, Jacob Dion, Aiden Dubinsky, Braden Haché, Hunter Jones, Francesco Lapenna, Alexander Legkov, Kevin Mandolese, Kale McCallum, Israël Mianscum, Josh Nadeau and Xavier Simoneau. That still left St-Louis with 45 players in the mix before the real trimming begins this week. Florian Xhekaj and David Reinbacher are among those still waiting to find out where they’ll open the season, and both made their case again on Saturday.
Everyone else, by St-Louis’ own account, looked ready to start the real thing. Even Chris Kreider, who at 35 has less use for exhibition hockey than most, admitted he wouldn’t have minded one more tune-up. “I wouldn’t have said no to playing another preseason game. Camp was short,” he said, already finding chemistry with new linemates Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. Whether that chemistry, or Lalonde’s fix, is ready in time will start to get answered Tuesday night in Toronto.
Coach’s Take
Montembeault is winning this job. I’ll be shocked if he isn’t the one backing up in Toronto on Tuesday. Fowler looked shaky in his own outing but battled back and made some good stops late — this isn’t about him losing the spot, it’s about Monty simply being better all camp long. Fowler heads to Laval, where he’ll get a full workload and real development games, and don’t be surprised if he earns a call-up at some point this season.
Slafkovský is ready. Three points last night, and he did it playing next to linemates he hadn’t spent much time with. That’s the part that makes me happy. He’s coming off a breakout year and he’s just continuing to build on it through the preseason — more confident, more patient with the puck. The game has slowed down for him, and that’s a huge reason he’s playing better. Remember, he’s still only 22.
Don’t judge the penalty kill too harshly yet. Most of the guys who were on the ice in Ottawa aren’t regular PK players to begin with, so of course there’s rust. St-Louis said it himself — it takes time to adjust to a new system. Give it a few weeks before drawing conclusions about what Lalonde’s system is actually going to bring this team. There’s real work ahead, but I believe it improves with time.
Camp is officially over, and I’ll have my full breakdown tomorrow with a report on every player. For today: it was a short camp, but a successful one. The 4-1-0 record doesn’t matter — what matters is that nobody got hurt and most of this group looks ready for an 84-game season. The real question now is whether management opens the year with 13 or 14 forwards, because that decision changes everything about who sticks and who doesn’t. My guess: Montembeault is the backup, Fowler starts the year in Laval, and the rest is still very much up in the air. Some good players are going to get cut who don’t deserve it — that’s just what happens when there aren’t enough spots for everybody.
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