OTT@MTL: Game recap

MONTREAL - The Canadiens will look eastwards for their first win of the preseason following Tuesday's 5-4 loss to the Senators.
The two teams will meet twice more this week to wrap up training camp in Gander, NL and Bouctouche, NB as part of Kraft Hockeyville.

Captain Nick Suzuki was in uniform for his 2022-23 exhibition debut on Tuesday, and received a warm welcome from his teammates.

Also receiving a warm welcome were members of Canada's 1972 Summit Series team, on-hand at the Bell Centre as part of 50th anniversary celebrations.

The visitors struck first following puck drop, opening the scoring at 3:13. Alex DeBrincat grabbed a pass from Claude Giroux and wired a power-play goal past Sam Montembeault for the 1-0 lead.
DeBrincat and Giroux teamed up again to start the second, reversing roles as playmaker and goalscorer to make it 2-0 at 5:52.
Joel Armia replied to get the Habs on the board less than three minutes later, after Suzuki set the table with some slick moves at 8:20. The pair both picked up their first points of the preseason.

Montreal seized the momentum off the marker, scoring again just 44 seconds later to tie things up 2-2. Jake Evans served up a perfect play for David Savard who made no mistake in front of Anton Forsberg.

The deadlock was shortlived as the Senators restored their two-goal cushion before the period expired. Tyler Motte and Shane Pinto scored at 11:10 and 18:53, respectively, to head into the break with a 4-2 advantage. Mathieu Joseph earned assists on both tallies.
That set up a wild final frame which saw the two teams exchange three goals in the span of 1:49.
Cole Caufield pulled the Habs within one with a power-play goal at 14:57. Caufield leads the Canadiens in preseason goals with three in three games.

Brady Tkachuk put Ottawa back up by two at 16:08, before Arber Xhekaj capped the scoring 28 seconds later to end things 5-4.

Montreal threatened in the dying moments with the extra attacker and Montembeault on the bench, but couldn't complete the comeback.
The Canadiens and Senators meet again on Thursday at the Steele Community Centre in Gander, NL. Montreal will be the designated home team for the neutral-site contest.