Canadiens complete comeback to sink Senators 6-4
By Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press on October 7, 2023.
OTTAWA – A wild third period and three goals by the Montreal Canadiens led to a 6-4 comeback win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. Trailing 4-3, Sean Monahan tipped a Mattias Norlinder shot to tie the NHL pre-season contest at 4-4 and less than three minutes later Cole Caufield scored the winner. Arber Xhekaj added security with his goal that went right through the net and wasn’t initially called. After trailing for most of the game, the Senators scored a quick pair of third-period goals to take their first lead of the game. Trailing 3-2 to start the third the Senators tied the game on Roby Järventie’s fourth of the season and just 16 seconds later Ridly Greig gave Ottawa the lead. Montreal goaltender Sam Montembeault, who made 21 saves, wasn’t able to grab a bouncing puck and Jordan Harris failed to clear the puck giving Greig the chance to jam it home. With the loss the Senators wrapped up their pre-season with a 6-2 record, with both losses coming against Montreal. Parker Kelly and Dominik Kubalik also scored for the Senators, while Mads Sogaard stopped 32 shots. Montreal wrapped up the pre-season with a 3-3 record. Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky also scored for the Canadiens. Ottawa elected to sit most of its regulars, while Montreal had a solid lineup, coming off a team retreat in Mont Tremblant earlier this week. Leading 2-1, Suzuki made the most of a turnover and extended the Canadiens lead, but once again the Senators were able to cut the lead back to one. A nice rush by Ottawa was capped by a great feed from Erik Brannstrom over to Kubalik who wasted no time and snapped it over Montembeault. Montreal opened the scoring 33 seconds in when Slafkovsky was able to jump on a Mike Matheson rebound, but Ottawa replied just over one minute later. Montreal struggled to clear the puck in front and Kelly jumped in and roofed it over Montembeault. Pezzetta made it 2-1 at the 14-minute mark with a wrister that beat Sogaard. Ottawa’s Zack MacEwen (upper body) and Tarun Fizer (lower body) left the game in the second and did not return. NOTES The Senators announced they had no timeline for centre Josh Norris’s return to the lineup. The Senators recalled six players from AHL Belleville for Saturday’s game. UP NEXT Both teams open the regular season on Wednesday night. The Senators will play the Carolina Hurricanes, while Montreal will open the season against the Toronto Maple Leafs. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2023. 21-20
