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Pre-season battle between Sens and Habs Noah Borer (HV) It took the Ottawa Senators almost 9 minutes
before they got their first shot on net. Not only was it
their first shot on net, but it also produced the first goal
of the game by Peter Schaefer, his second in the pre-season.
From that moment on the Ottawa Senators who were outplayed early
on, never looked back, by defeating the Montreal
Canadiens 5-2. It was a night where the two starting goalies were
Martin Gerber of Ottawa and David Aebischer in the Montreal nets.
It was an interesting match-up since
both goalies were born in Switzerland .
Montreal didn’t help matters by taking unnecessary penalties
throughout the night even though Montreal Canadiens
coach Guy Carbonneau stressed to the
Canadiens players that they need to cut
down on penalties. Carbonneau didn't
help them much because
he also received a bench minor for too many men
on the ice. The Senators were 2-for-5 on the power play,
while the Canadiens went 0-for-6. Martin Gerber looked
very strong turning away 31 shots on net. It was Gerber's
first full game in goal for the Senators and he
said after the game "It felt good to play a full game".
He will start again on Saturday in the second of the
home and home series against the Montreal Canadiens. Saturday’s
game is the final pre-season game for both teams.
Andrej Meszaros scored two goals from the point,
Mike Fisher had a goal and an assist, Peter Shaefer
had a goal, and Daniel Alfredsson had 3 helpers in
front of crowd of 18,081. Mike Fisher has a combined
10 points in his 4 pre-season games. Tomas Plekanec and
Alex Kovalev had the two goals for the Canadiens.
When Dany Heatley was asked about his hopes for the upcoming season he said
"I want to try and improve from last year". Montreal fans have something to be
happy about, when Saku Koivu, the captain, was asked how he was
doing with his eye he said that he is feeling better every day.
The Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators have several decisions to
make within the next week.
Who they should move to the
minors, the line combinations, and on the Canadiens side,who
the starting goalie should be, as David Aebischer looked like he
was not at the top of his game. All these things will be decided
by October 4th when the regular season starts and these pre-season
games are just a memory.
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