MTL@OTT: Game recap

OTTAWA - The Canadiens lost their first of four preseason games against the Ottawa Senators, losing 5-4 in overtime at the Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday.

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Cayden Primeau got the start in goal, while Jonathan Drouin made his preseason debut.
The first period was a scoreless affair until late in the frame, when Jake Evans lit the lamp twice in quick succession.
His first tally came largely courtesy of Rem Pitlick, who helped clear the puck out of the Montreal zone and chased it into the Ottawa end, where he fed Evans on a 2-on-0 for his first of the preseason.

Then, slightly over two minutes later, Evans grabbed the puck out of the air to the left of Ottawa netminder Mads Sogaard and backhanded it in to pad Montreal's lead.

Thanks to Evans' two-goal effort in the first, Montreal headed to the room up 2-0 after 20 minutes of play. The shots were even at 10 apiece in the period.
The Sens got on the board near the midway mark of the second stanza when Alex DeBrincat beat Primeau for his first of the preseason.
Pitlick gave the Habs another cushion when he wired home a cross-ice feed from Jesse Ylonen from the faceoff dot to make it 3-1 for the visitors with 5:11 remaining in the period.

Ottawa replied slightly over one minute later when Shane Pinto netted a power play goal while Kaiden Guhle was in the box for holding.
After 40 minutes of play, the Habs were leading 3-2 while the Sens held a 23-14 edge in shots.
In the final frame, Justin Barron gave the Habs another two-goal lead when he accepted a backhand pass from Michael Pezzetta in the neutral zone, drove it in and beat Senators goalie Antoine Bibeau with a wrister at the 10:33 mark.

Ottawa quickly made it a one-goal game again when Mathieu Joseph lit the lamp just 20 seconds later.
Pinto tied the game with 5:20 remaining in regulation, and neither team was able to break the 4-4 deadlock before the end of the third.
DeBrincat sealed the deal for the home side in overtime.
Primeau made 29 saves in the loss.
The Canadiens' next contest is on Monday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre. For tickets to the game,
click here
.