In the Habs Room: Penalties have Montreal hot on their heels in Ottawa

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OTTAWA – The Canadiens are still looking for their first victory of the preseason, but they came close on Saturday night before losing a 5-4 overtime decision to the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre.

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“We were up and did a lot of good things tonight, but we got into a little bit of a penalty problem,” defenseman Jordan Harris said.

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Montreal was never far behind in this game until Alex DeBrincat scored his second goal of the game on a power play at the 59-second mark of overtime.

There were several familiar themes in this game.

The Canadiens had the edge in 5-on-5 situations, but Ottawa scored on three of their power play opportunities. Montreal looked to be in good shape when Justin Barron scored midway through the third period for a 4-2 lead, but Mathieu Joseph got it back 20 seconds later and Shane Pinto scored his second goal of the game in what else? — a power play to tie the game at 14:40.

And while the Canadiens scored four goals in their most productive performance in four preseason games, they didn’t test Ottawa goalie Mads Sogaard often enough and were outshot 34-16.

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“It’s something we’re still working on,” Jake Evans said of the penalty.

The offense was led by Evans and Rem Pitlick, both of whom benefited from playing together last season.

“For me, the first value in a linemate is a guy who passes first and Jake is that,” said Pitlick, who assisted on one of Evans’ two goals and also scored one of his own. “We played against each other in college when Jake was at Notre Dame and I was at Minnesota, and we all knew when Jake Evans was on the ice he was going to make a good play.”

“I like to play with him,” Evans said. “We both like to use our speed. He’s a very smart guy and it’s easy to play with him.”

Evans is fighting for ice time this season with Nick Suzuki, Christian Dvorak and newcomers Kirby Dach and Sean Monahan.

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“I’ve shown that I can play the position, it’s just a matter of showing that I can play better than the others,” Evans said. “It’s still early days and there is scope to grow before the season starts.”

And if it doesn’t work out in the middle, Evans said he’ll embrace a move to the wing.

Barron is also fighting for a job on defense and impressed Evans with his goal.

“It was a good goal from him, a timely goal, and it kind of sucks that they scored right away,” Evans said. “He stepped in right away and (coach Martin St. Louis) has been encouraging (defenses) to get on the play and that’s what he did on the play and he was rewarded.”

“I’m not happy with the ending, I don’t like losing, but I was happy to be on the scoreboard,” Barron said. “I raised my game offensively. I also feel good with Mike Matheson as a teammate, he is a great defender. He skates like the wind. I am lucky to have him.”

“I liked his game, he defended well and was involved in the attack,” St. Louis said. “It will give you confidence. He knows that he is in a battle for position.”

There was general agreement that goalkeeper Cayden Primeau deserved a better fate, but a victory would not have changed his immediate future. He heads to Laval when pre-season is over.

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