The Ottawa Senators capped their preseason off with another win against the Montreal Canadiens, as they emerged victorious by a score of 4-2 on Saturday night. The win came the day after the Senators’ 4-3 overtime victory against the Detroit Red Wings the night before.
The game was a tale of forward Shane Pinto. Less than a minute into the game Pinto opened the scoring to make it 1-0 off a turnover by Montreal. The lone assist on the goal was awarded to forward Noah Gregor.
At 14:03, Pinto struck again to double the Senators’ lead to 2-0 with his second of the night as he tipped defenceman Jake Sanderson’s shot past goaltender Sam Montembeault on the Senators’ five-on-three powerplay.
With 1:15 left in the first period, Christian Dvorak scored to bring the Canadiens back within one at 2-1.
Just 22 seconds into the second period, forward Michael Amadio tipped the puck past Montembeault to regain the Senators’ two goal lead at a score of 3-1. Assists on the goal were awarded to Artem Zub and Shane Pinto, the latter’s third point of the night. The goal marked Amadio’s second point of the night.
Shane Pinto completed the hat trick shorthanded and unassisted at 15:14 of the second period, his fourth point of the night, just 28 seconds into the Senators’ penalty kill. “It was just one of those games, the puck was just kind of finding me,” Pinto said of his game. “You just have those once in a while, so I wish it was in the regular season but hopefully I can build off of it and bring it to the regular season.”
The hat trick was a long time coming for Pinto, who hadn’t scored three in a game for quite some time. “It was in high school,” said Pinto regarding his last hat trick. “It’s been a while, so it’s nice to get one.”
The Senators killed off a five-on-three powerplay, but Montreal got back within two at 11:16 in the third off a goal by Arber Xhekaj. It was too little too late for the Canadiens, however. The Senators were able to shut down Montreal and keep them off the score sheet for the rest of the game, solidifying their 4-2 victory.
“We want to be a hard team to play against,” Michael Amadio spoke postgame. “I think we did a good job of that tonight and obviously capitalizing when we can, and it was a good win for us.”
Tonight’s game marked the end of the Senators’ preseason, as the regular season is gearing up into full swing. The team’s home opener, also their season opener, is fast approaching on Thursday, October 10 as they face off against the reigning cup champs, the Florida Panthers.
Tickets for the home opener are available HERE for fans who don’t want to miss out on any of the action.
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