Yves on Habs » Ottawa Senators

Last night’s game certainly wasn’t a great performance by the Montreal Canadiens. At first, the pace of the game seemed to indicate that we were gonna be in for an entertaining game…. both Habs fans and Sens fans alike. The pace was fairly quick and there was some jump on both sides.

But it soon started to turn for the worst for the Habs.

Seemed like the team looked a little unorganized last night. There were many mistakes made and way to many odd man breaks for the Sens.

One Alex Kovalev had a 2 on 1 with Shawn Belle back on D and there wasn’t too much he could do. Kovalev let go a terrific shot like we used to see in a Habs uniform and just like that…. he made himself more at home with Sens fans.

Does last’s nights game mean much? No. It’s still pre-season and I suppose the defense wasn’t full of the most experience NHL DMen with O’Byrne, Belle, Benoit and Anderson taking 4 spots. It’s an important step in pre-season to ice prospects with NHLers to help in the evaluation process which helps to see where these prospects are at.

I’m curious to see who will be in the lineup this evening as Montreal meets the Boston Bruins.

I want to also mention that I’m glad Ryan O’Byrne is trying to make his presence felt. He played a good game in Montreal and again in Ottawa he tried to be more physical dropping the gloves last night. Some people have believed his time is up but I wouldn’t give up on him. He still shows great potential and having some more big veterans around like Mara and (Stanley cup winning) Hal Gill may help his development. Happy that the Montreal fans were cheering him on the other night at the Bell Center.

And now, the painful highlights (if you’re a Habs fan) of last night’s game courtesy of Sportsnet:

Canadiens VS Senators – Post game highlights and comments

Yves — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 13:57:51 +0000

The Montreal Canadiens played their second pre-season match up at the Bell center last night against the Ottawa Senators who opted not to dress Alex Kovalev. I really didn’t expect Kovalev to play because I’m sure he’ll get a favorable reaction from the crowd and he is quite fresh in voicing his desire to return to Montreal someday…

This game marked the second win in the pre-season for the Canadiens and another loss for the Senators as the Canadiens won 2-1…

I had a hard time really watching the game last night as I had signal problems trying to watch (yes… that means I was not at the Bell Center) but you can bet I watched what I could.

While the flow of the game wasn’t always apparent to me due to signal quality some players did stand out for me.

Ben Maxwell has come to camp in pretty good shape. He’s added some weight and he’s looking pretty good. Last night he had a breakaway chance and then later scored when he got the puck from a weird bounce off a ref…. he made a great move around LeClair showing puck handling skill and patience.

Maxwell played well in Hamilton last season and he’s showing that he’s knocking on the door this year.

Eric Neilson showed that he understands his role quite well and is capable of filling that role. He participated in 3 different bouts… while in the last one he really didn’t seem to be able to set up and was ambushed… Neilson played in Rimouski along side “Sid the Kid” as the team’s enforcer.

There’s a write up on Neilson over at HABSInside/Out featuring an audio interview with Neilson. After listening to the interview, I really like what I hear from Neilson. He’s excited to be at the camp and seems to love the role he brings. I was also impressed because he talked about scouting the other enforcers he might face during a game…. so he gets familiar with their style and what they bring.

Brian Gionta played well last night and I think that if he continues to play alongside of Plekanec, they could certainly forge some chemistry. Brian may also turn out to be a great influence on Plekanec… being a small(er) player who’s not scared to get into the corners and in front of the net.

Gionta managed to get many shots on goal and just like the previous night seeing Gomez and Cammalleri score, Gionta got the winner.

I’m glad that Gionta got that out of the way.

At the end of the game, Gionta missed an open net ….. give him that shot over, and he’ll make it.

One guy who I’ve been wanting to see play is Shawn Belle… I don’t think he really stood out last night, but a few times I did notice what he could bring.. He’s a big frame guy, he can skate and he’s a true defensive Dman. He can throw a hit and take ‘em. I’d love to see him play really well.

Waiting to see tonight’s lineup.

Video highlights by Sportsnet, and before you watch I have to say that I didn’t find some of the comments very funny. Referring to Gionta’s size and how the Montreal Media would call for his trade after missing the open net.

Save it for comedy night where we can amuse you and ourselves with some tomatoes flying at you…