Less than 24 hours after the Ottawa Senators thumped the Montreal Canadiens 7-2 in the nation’s capital, the two sides met again, this time at the Bell Centre in Montreal. The lineup was very different than the one that was crushed on Friday night. Notably, it featured the return of Brendan Gallagher, in Cole Caufield’s spot, alongside Nick Suzuki.
It also saw Ryan Poehling slide into the second-line centre role, flanked by Artturi Lehkonen and Jesse Ylönen, while Mathieu Perreault centred the third line alongside Laurent Dauphin and Gabriel Bourque. In net Cayden Primeau was given the full 60 minutes for the Habs, while Michael McNiven backed him up.
The game started with a continuation of the physicality that popped up at moments the previous night. Scott Sabourin grabbed Brandon Baddock as he was skating away and began throwing punches, earning an extra two minutes in the box while the Canadiens’ power play went to work.
The man advantage moved the puck well, forcing the Senators’ penalty-killers to scramble constantly, but their shots on net were swallowed up by Anton Forsberg. Once the play returned to even strength, the Canadiens drew another penalty as Laurent Dauphin caught the Ottawa defence flat-footed as he circled the net.
The second Montreal power play was not as pretty as the first as the Senators generated the best chances on short-handed rushes, but Primeau was equal to the task as Ottawa got their second kill of the period. Then, because that’s how the game had gone up to that point, Montreal then headed to their first penalty kill of the night after they were called for cross-checking.
Much like their counterparts, the Canadiens’ penalty-killers were steadfast in the defensive zone, clearing out any rebounds and stifling the Senators’ man advantage to keep the game goalless.
That latter part did not last much longer however, as the Senators cycled around the Habs zone, eventually with Erik Brannstrom lining up to shoot. The young defender’s shot looked like it was heading right for the pileup in front of Primeau, but a deft tip by Tim Stützle lifted it past the screened Primeau and put the Habs down by a goal late in the first.
The penalty parade continued, this time with Arber Xhekaj sitting for a cross-checking penalty. The Montreal penalty kill remained as strong as its first showing, not allowing the Senators any space to operate, and the entire kill was capped off with Alexander Romanov catching Ridly Greig with his head down, hammering him as he tried to enter the Habs’ zone with the puck.
The period ended with the Senators still sitting on their one-goal lead, but with plenty of the game left to play.
It looked like Montreal had opened the scoring in the second period as Jeff Petry pulled off a wraparound, but his shot stayed directly along the goal line, and despite the official signalling that it was a good goal, the puck never crossed the line.
The Canadiens were doing well to control the flow of play as the period wore on, but they were not able to find a tying goal against Forsberg. An odd-man rush for the Sens drew a hooking call as Petry got his stick around Connor Brown’s wrists to break up the play.
Montreal’s penalty kill remained perfect on the night, even with their leading penalty-killer sitting in the box, and the game returned to even strength with the Habs still looking for their first goal of the night. It wasn’t for a lack of trying though, as Petry sent J.-C. Beaudin in alone on net, but the AHL forward failed to solve Forsberg as well.
The Canadiens soon found themselves back on the power play as Tyler Toffoli drew an interference call as he flew into the Ottawa zone. The second unit started the power play, and with Jesse Ylönen acting as the trigger man the Habs mounted a massive attack against the Ottawa penalty-killers. Forsberg remained unbeaten as he robbed Ylönen on what looked like an empty net, but the Habs got a bit of good luck when the next unit took the ice. Josh Brown went to clear the puck, but had his stick crumble in his hands. The puck trickled right to Gallagher, who wasted no time roofing the errant pass by Forsberg to finally get Montreal on the board.
A late Senators power play was again shut down by the Canadiens’ penalty-killers and the teams headed into the final period tied at one goal apiece.
It was another fast start for the Canadiens in the third period as the top line went to work, and found a goal in just 21 seconds. Toffoli worked behind the net and threw a pass out front where Gallagher fanned on the chance, but Suzuki calmly walked in behind him and wired the shot by Filip Gustavsson to put Montreal on top.
With the lead in their grasp, the Habs were content to play safe hockey, slowly pushing the Senators back out of the attacking areas, and getting the puck in deep when that space was given to them. Montreal nearly added a goal a handful of times on a late power play, but Poehling was inches off on his chances at the side of the net.
In the end it didn’t matter much as the Canadiens saw out the end of the game, even with Ottawa pulling their goalie, to secure the win at home in front of 7,500 fans at the Bell Centre.
Montreal has a few days off now to sift through their next round of cuts and do more theoretical work before a third game with the Toronto Maple Leafs in Toronto on Tuesday night.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings signed forward Lucas Raymond to an eight-year, $64.6 million contract Monday, completing a deal with one of their best young players less than 72 hours before training camp begins.
Raymond will count $8.075 million against the salary cap through 2032. The 22-year-old was a restricted free agent without a contract for the upcoming NHL season and was coming off setting career highs with 31 goals, 41 assists and 72 points.
The Red Wings have another one of those in defenceman Moritz Seider, who won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2021-22.
Detroit is looking to end an eight-year playoff drought dating to the Original Six franchise’s last appearance in 2016.
Raymond, a Swede who was the fourth pick in 2020, has 174 points in 238 games since breaking into the league.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kirk Cousins led a flawless last-minute drive for Atlanta and connected with Drake London for a 7-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left to give the Falcons a 22-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.
Saquon Barkley dropped a short pass that stopped the clock with 1:46 left and forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal instead of a game-sealing first down. That was plenty of time for Cousins — especially against an Eagles defense playing soft coverage with a nonexistent pass rush.
The 36-year-old veteran, playing his second game since tearing his Achilles tendon last Oct. 29 while playing for Minnesota, shook off an uneven effort and hit Darnell Mooney for 21 and 26 yards on consecutive plays during the decisive drive.
Cousins found London on a short pass to his right for the tying score, and Younghoe Koo put Atlanta (1-1) on top with a 48-yard extra point after London was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The go-ahead drive took just 65 seconds.
Jalen Hurts had his final pass intercepted by Jessie Bates III to seal Atlanta’s win and set off a wild celebration on the sideline.
The Eagles (1-1) went ahead on Hurts’ 1-yard tush push score with 6:47 left. Barkley finished with 95 yards on 22 carries in his home debut for Philadelphia, but his drop provided the Falcons with some hope.
And then Cousins started playing like the QB Atlanta thought it was getting when it signed him to a four-year, $180 million contract.
Cousins finished 20 of 29 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Atlanta’s first TD was a 41-yarder from Cousins to Mooney, who finished with three catches for 88 yards.
Hurts was 23 of 30 for 183 yards, including a touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith. With No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown out with a hamstring injury, Smith led the Eagles with seven catches for 76 yards and a score.
Jake Elliott kicked two field goals for the Eagles. His 28-yarder with 1:39 left made it 21-15.
Atlanta kept stalling in the red zone, getting three field goals from Koo, before Cousins fired over the middle to Mooney, who shook loose from C.J. Gardner-Johnson and left him on the turf before he somersaulted into the end zone with 1:21 left in the third quarter for a 15-10 lead. Cousins failed on the 2-point conversion pass.
Hurts had some juice in his step during a second-quarter TD drive, running with abandon for big plays much like he did in the 2022 season. He spiked the ball in a rare, raw show of emotion on a 23-yard run, earning a delay-of-game penalty. He shrugged off the 5-yard setback and scrambled for 9 yards and 15 yards to move the Eagles to Atlanta’s 19.
With comedian Shane Gillis and actor Bradley Cooper among the fans cheering on the Eagles, Hurts connected with Smith in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard TD that made it 7-3.
Under new defensive coordinator Vince Fangio, the Eagles have established an early knack for allowing long drives that end with three points instead of seven. Koo kicked field goals of 39, 22 and 34 yards, the last one enough for a 9-7 lead in the third quarter. In their opener, the Eagles held the Packers to just three field goals when they drove inside the 20.
Questionable call
Rather than take a chip-shot field goal from Elliott, the Eagles’ fourth-and-4 gamble at Atlanta’s 9-yard line in the first quarter failed when Hurts threw an incomplete pass.
Elliott kicked a 29-yarder with 4:31 left in the third quarter for a 10-9 lead.
Running wild
Bijan Robinson ran for 97 yards for the Falcons. The Eagles stuffed him late on fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 39.
Barkley was quiet until the go-ahead drive, a week after he rushed for 109 yards and scored three touchdowns against Green Bay. Eagles fans booed when the opening drive of the game ended without Barkley touching the ball. They went wild when he had consecutive 9-yard runs to open the second drive. Barkley had 40 yards rushing in the first half.
Foles honored
Former Eagles QB Nick Foles, who led the franchise to its only Super Bowl title, served as an honorary captain and led the crowd in a rendition of “Fly, Eagles, Fly.”
Injuries
The Falcons played without LB Nate Landman (calf, quad).
Up next
Atlanta hosts Super Bowl champion Kansas City on Sunday.
TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
