The Senators finished their preseason with a power-play binge, but the bigger story out of Saturday night was the injury list growing again.
Ottawa beat Montreal 4-3 in one split-squad game at home and dropped a 4-2 decision in Montreal in the other, and every one of the Senators’ six goals came with the man advantage. The home group cashed in on four of eight power-play chances, while the road group scored twice on five opportunities.
Jake Sanderson finally got into a preseason game in Ottawa after dealing with a minor injury through camp, but he didn’t stay in long. He exited halfway through, and head coach Travis Green said it was precautionary and that Sanderson should be ready for opening night.
Andre Burakovsky also left the Ottawa game after taking a hit in the third period, and Green didn’t have an update on him. In Montreal, Sens prospect Adam Nemec was forced out with an upper-body injury after Florian Xhekaj drove him hard and awkwardly face first into the glass. Nemec was only hours away from what was expected to be his return to junior, where he’s projected to have a big OHL season.
The Montreal game still had its share of highlights for Ottawa. Philip Tomasino scored with a slick shot from the slot, slipping into space and picking the top corner over Jacob Fowler.
Tyler Boucher followed with a one-timer off a feed from Xavier Bourgault. Sam Ersson allowed four goals on 26 shots.
That game also featured a heavyweight scrap between Djibril Touré and Tyler Thorpe, a fierce bout between two massive bodies that turned into a barrage of punches after Touré absorbed several upper cuts to the chin and answered with a series of left hands that connected.
There was another notable moment in Montreal before puck drop, as Nick Suzuki faced off against his younger brother Ryan at the opening faceoff. Ryan is expected to be a key player for Belleville this season.
In Ottawa, Claude Giroux kept rolling through what has been a strong preseason, finishing with a goal and two assists. Drake Batherson and William Eklund also scored, while Burakovsky added a pair of assists before leaving the game. Linus Ullmark stopped 20 of 23 shots, and Thomas Chabot returned after missing time while his wife gave birth to a baby girl.
Ottawa closes the preseason at 1-3-1 and now has a little more time to sort out the health issues before opening night on October 3. Montreal has a much shorter runway, with the regular season set to begin on September 29.
The roster deadline is Monday at 5 p.m., and the decisions are getting harder by the day. Artem Zub remains out after trying to rehab a lower-body injury for the past five months, and his status is now a real concern. Warren Foegele and Kurtis McDermid are also out, Ridly Greig still has two games left on his suspension from last year’s playoff series against Carolina after he punched Sean Walker during a scrum between whistles, and Shane Pinto is a question mark after Green said he “came in sore” following Wednesday’s loss in Toronto.
Pinto hasn’t practiced since then and missed Saturday’s game, and with Sanderson and Burakovsky both leaving early, the Senators suddenly have more NHL openings than anyone expected when camp opened. That leaves Ottawa with a tough set of calls to make, even after a preseason that felt like it would never end.
In Other News...
Senators Face Two Big Questions Before Opening Night Vs Toronto
Training camp is winding down in Ottawa, and the Senators are still sorting through the kinds of roster choices that tend to define the final days before a season begins. Final forward and defense spots are still up for grabs, and the staff is balancing those decisions with the usual late-camp work on special teams, all while trying to get the group pointed in the right direction for an opener that arrives quickly on Oct. 3 against Toronto.
The uncertainty does not stop with the bubble players, either. Ottawa is also dealing with injuries to key pieces as it heads into the first week of the regular season, which adds another layer to the lineup picture and makes the final roster decisions even more significant. For a team that wants to open on solid footing against the Maple Leafs, the next few days could shape not just the roster, but the tone of the early season. [Read more 🡒]
Senators Roster Battle Just Got Real Before Opening Night
Training camp has been whittled down to the point where the next few days will tell Ottawa a lot about how the opening-night roster is going to take shape. The Senators cut their group nearly in half, moving a large chunk of players out of camp as the organization begins the harder part of the process, separating those who can help now from those who need more time elsewhere.
A mix of forwards and defensemen is still in the picture as Ottawa works toward the NHL deadline, with familiar names such as Claude Giroux, Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson and Ridly Greig among those still in camp. The numbers are getting tighter, the decisions are getting tougher, and the last round of evaluation figures to be the one that really matters. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens-Senators Flashpoint Leaves Ottawa Fans With One NHL Question
The preseason meeting between the Canadiens and Senators produced more than just an early look at two Atlantic Division rivals. The NHL Department of Player Safety fined Montreal defenseman Mike Matheson for roughing Ottawa forward Ridly Greig, a decision that at least gives the flashpoint some formal closure from the leagues side. The money goes to the Players Emergency Assistance Fund, and it lands as another entry on Mathesons long list of discipline-related run-ins during his NHL career.
For Ottawa, the bigger issue is less about the dollar amount than the temperature this kind of exchange can bring to a game before the points even start counting. Greig was at the center of the incident, and Senators fans will be watching closely the next time these teams meet to see whether the edge carries over. The league stepped in on Matheson, but the broader question around how that play gets handled moving forward is still hanging there. [Read more 🡒]