24/09/11: Ottawa 3, Montreal 2; Sens dish out revenge

Playing with a line-up that included minimal vets, the Canadiens were surprisingly effective for half of last night's game, taking a 2-0 lead. But just as they had overcome a 3-0 deficit to Ottawa the night prior, the Sens came roaring back, snapping a 2-2 tie on a Chris Neil goal on the powerplay with about 30 seconds to play to steal the win.

The positives? (other than the fact that it's still only preseason) Carey Price continues to show slow and steady progress, looking better every time he takes to the goal. Though his back-up Peter Budaj will go the distance tonight, there should be little doubt Price will be ready for a date with the Leafs in October.

Mike Cammalleri looks to have gained a bit in footspeed this off-season, looking quick throughout preseason and netting a pair in this one to pace the team. Also contributing offensively was Aaron Palushaj. Yes, you read that right. Aaron Palushaj. Hello Mr Palushaj and welcome to training camp. You've shown up 2 weeks late, but better late than never.

Gabriel Dumont turned in another solid performance, playing with more offensive wingers. Certainly the Canadiens would rather have Andreas Engqvist in the line-up for size reasons, but based on play and merit, Dumont should have a lead on him in the fourth line center battle right now. The decision is likely to come down to the wire over the last few preseason games, and as we get a better idea on the health of David Desharnais, Lars Eller, and Ryan White.

Olivier Archambault showed some nice offensive creativity at times in his preseason debut, though for now, he can be regarded as a long-term project at best.

Nathan Beaulieu led all Montreal blueliners with close to 23 minutes of ice time. While he was perhaps less noticeable than in his first game, he again showed to be a great skater and have tremendous sense and confidence with the puck. Certainly a future fixture on the Habs back end. Mark Mitera, getting his first preseason action, played the fewest minutes at 16:14 but didn't look out of place, with a couple of strong plays defensively and even picking up assists on both goals.

23/09/11: Montreal 4, Ottawa 3 (SO); vets lead way

While we've stated that losing in preseason isn't a real concern, repeated losses may eventually have the effect of weighing down team morale. Thus, it was a nice sign to see the Montreal Canadiens bounce back from a 3-o deficit last night to top the Ottawa Senators 4-3 in a shootout and improve their exhibition game record to 1-2-0.

P.K. Subban had been the Habs' top player against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday but he was held out last night with a minor upper body injury. The slack was picked up by another young veteran, Max Pacioretty, who followed up on a "decent" first outing against Buffalo to lead the way with 2 goals, a boatload of shots and chances, plus a nice shootout marker against the Sens. Pacioretty looks ready to start the year, every bit as fast as his pre-injury self and playing the same game.

A player that DOESN'T want to repeat last year, Scott Gomez, made his preseason debut and looked far better than he did for most of last year. Gomez skated the puck well and set up some chances, all the while showing off his trademark carrying of the puck through the neutral zone - a skill at which there might be no better forward in the league. While it wasn't pretty, he was credited with the game-tying goal in the last 35 seconds by positioning himself in front of the net and whacking away at a rebound.

In addition to scoring the shootout winner, Erik Cole picked up 2 assists to now give him 3 points in 2 games. He was most noticeable in creating turnovers throughout the game, picking the pockets of opposing defenders. Looks like he'll be a nice fit.

If his first game against Buffalo was disappointing, it may have been just nerves, as Brendan Gallagher turned his play up many notches last night. His quick hands were evident as he took advantage of playing with Pacioretty and Gomez in coming up with several near-miss scoring opportunities.

In goal, Carey Price made a few nice saves, a small improvement from his first outing. But he still doesn't seem to be in season shape, with 3 pucks getting by him on 18 shots in the game's first half. Nathan Lawson looked quite good playing the second half, as while he didn't have to make many tough saves, he supported the rush well, most evidently with a long bomb breakaway pass he fed to Pacioretty for his second goal on the powerplay.

In what may be training camp's biggest surprise, Gabriel Dumont is meddling with a lot of prognosticators line-ups and depth charts. The short but feisty center has been far more remarkable than the likes of Aaron Palushaj, Brock Trotter, or even Andreas Engqvist. It will be interesting to see how the Habs handle the situation, as Engqvist fits the team's need better due to his size, and is a very responsible defensive player, but Dumont has shown greater upside in playing more physically and having a better rounded game.

21/09/11: Buffalo 3, Montreal 1; but a good building block

It may have been the second loss in as many preseason nights for your Montreal Canadiens, but it was hard not to walk away with at least a little smile from last night's game at the Bell Centre.

Perhaps it was because Peter Budaj delivered a solid half game performance, seeming like he will be a perfectly acceptable back-up to Carey Price.

But that wouldn't be enough. Was it that P.K. Subban showed no signs of his training camp injury in being by far the team's best player and scoring a goal (followed by a celebration that delighted fans in the building but is sure to draw ire from people around the league given that it's just a preseason game)? Likely not, as Subban was just being Subban, though it does seem at this point that he may end up being the team's most important player not named Carey Price.

If it wasn't either of them, perhaps it was merely the fact that a team composed mostly of young players hung in there against a near-full Buffalo Sabres roster who, admittedly, weren't playing particularly passioned hockey? While this is true, it is still exhibition play, and so the outcomes are of little importance.

No, I think the biggest reason for Habs fans to have been happy last night was a first exposure to the stud that will be Nathan Beaulieu. Now Beaulieu didn't have a perfect game. He had a couple of giveaways, a few poorly executed passes, and some failed powerplay set-ups. But on the whole, the fact that he didn't look out of place is perhaps the biggest compliment you can pay the 18-year old kid. Beaulieu showed great skating and stickhandling ability, and set up teammates with a few very slick breakout passes. Ladies and gentlemen, we've got ourselves a top notch prospect. Expect Beaulieu to require a few seasons of development before he is a full-time Hab, but he appears to have a bright future ahead of him.

As for the rest of the team, fans who came to see Brendan Gallagher and Alexander Avtsin may have left disappointed, as Gallagher was basically quiet except for one very strong offensive zone shift, and Avtsin did little to be noticed aside from being pasted into the boards on a few occasions. Andreas Engqvist further extended his lead for a roster spot with sound defensive play over Aaron Palushaj who continues to float through camp with little impact.

Gabriel Dumont had a nice debut, showing his willingness to hit anything that moves and lots of combativeness for such a small player.

As far as the veterans go, Max Pacioretty had a solid outing with a number of chances / shots on goal, and doesn't appear to have lost any speed since his injury. His center for the night, David Desharnais, did a fine Scott Gomez impersonation through the neutral zone at times, but was of little influence on the game's result. The same could be said for Brian Gionta who had a quiet night and wasn't particularly noticeable, with the entire trio finishing a -3.

Next up for the Habs is a duel in Ottawa on Friday, the first of 4 games in 4 nights, meaning few cuts should be expected between now and then. The chemistry experiments continue as all players try to round themselves into shape.