Keith Kinkaid earns shutout as Habs blank Sens
Olofsson pots 2 as Sabres down Leafs, Kings outblast Canucks
The Ottawa Senators called their 4-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night a good lesson.
The Senators were outplayed from start to finish in nearly every area of the game, but if it had to happen the pre-season is as good a time as any.
"They had a bunch of hungry guys trying to make the NHL and we didn't work as hard as in camp and some previous games so that was disappointing," said Senators head coach D.J. Smith. "Third period we worked and that's all I've asked is if you've worked every single day and that was the first time we didn't and it was obvious."
The Canadiens improved to a perfect 4-0-0 in this year's pre-season with the win.
Keith Kinkaid stopped all 27 shots he faced and looked solid when challenged. Jeff Petry, Jake Evans, Thomas Tatar and Phillip Danault also scored for Montreal.
"He didn't have many pucks, but we always say that about a goaltender," said Canadiens coach Claude Julien. "When you don't get a ton of shots you need to keep your focus. What I liked about him is he made some big saves at times. They were really crashing the net, but he held his ground and I thought he made some big saves and he was pretty solid so I'm pretty happy with what I saw of him [Saturday]."
Craig Anderson stopped 27-of-29 shots through two periods of play and was the only reason the game was close as the Senators (2-1-0) were being heavily outplayed. Joey Daccord gave up two goals on five shots in the third period.
The Senators made no excuses and know they need to be better as the regular season approaches.
"We're playing at home and we're trying to be too nice with everybody on the team," said Ottawa's Thomas Chabot, who played his first pre-season game. "This is a good reminder that we still have a lot of work ahead of us before the season starts."
WATCH | Habs blank Sens:
Leading 2-0, the Canadiens extended their lead early in the third period, scoring twice in a span of 39 seconds.
Tatar made it 3-0 by beating Daccord glove side and seconds later Danault fired a shot from just inside the blue-line to make it 4-0.
Montreal opened the scoring on the power play at the six-minute mark of the second.
Nikita Zaitsev had blocked a shot, but the puck went right to Petry who beat Anderson short side.
Minutes later, Anderson made an impressive save on Nick Suzuki as the Canadiens were all over the Senators.
Montreal made it 2-0 late in the period as Anderson put the puck behind the net, but it was Montreal's Riley Barber who won the footrace and passed it out front to Evans.
The Senators were outshot 18-6 in the second period and five of those shots came in the final two minutes of the period.
Both teams had some chances in the first period, but the game remained scoreless after 20 minutes.
The Senators are expected to make some cuts to their roster on Sunday as they prepare for two games in Vancouver this week.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 21, 2019.
Sabres edge Leafs late
The Buffalo Sabres beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-3 in pre-season action on Saturday.
Olofsson's first came in the second period. Following a pass from Sam Reinhart during a power play, the Swede put the Sabres up 2-1 with a one-timer from the top of the crease.
WATCH | Leafs fall to Sabres:
John Tavares, Pierre Engvall and Trevor Moore (shorthanded) scored for the Leafs, while Kasperi Kapanen had two assists.
Kings check Canucks
Michael Amadio and Jaret Anderson-Dolan potted a pair apiece to help the Los Angeles Kings defeat the Vancouver Canucks 7-5.
Adam Gaudette scored two, while Tyler Graovac, Tanner Pearson and Josh Leivo also netted for Vancouver.
Jack Campbell made 34 saves for the Kings, who also received scoring help from Ben Hutton, Alec Martinez and Martin Frk.
Pearson and Leivo scored 19 seconds apart in the third period to get the Canucks to within one goal. The Kings, however, once gain pulled away after Frk made it 6-4 and Anderson-Dolan made it 7-4 at 10:25.
Forward Brock Boeser played his first game with the Canucks since signing a three-year contract on Monday.
With files from CBC Sports