All that will be missing is an ambulance or two circling the building.
The Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Canadiens will renew their hostilities at the Bell Centre on Saturday night in the final exhibition game for both teams, with the start of the regular season only five days away.
After the teams turned back the clock to the Battle of Quebec days by piling up 150 penalty minutes in a fight-filled game on Tuesday at Videotron Centre in Quebec City, won 5-0 by Montreal, the two combatants have one meaningless matchup left to get ready for the real action.
Many are wondering exactly what we will witness, and if it will be another scene out of Slap Shot.
What are the Senators expecting?
“Just a normal hockey game,” veteran winger David Perron said on Friday after the club’s skate at the Canadian Tire Centre. “Things like that happen. We saw it with Florida and Tampa yesterday. We’re going to try to go there, round out our game, and make sure we’re on top of it — defensively and all kinds of things.
“That’s what’s got to come first, we’ve got to make sure we play the right way with our structure and everything. That will be a successful game if we do.”
Arber Xhejak and his brother, Florian, ran roughshod over the Senators in Quebec City. Yes, the Senators stood up for themselves, but messages need to be sent, and depending on who is in the lineup in Montreal, we could see even more shenanigans on Saturday.
This is the exact scenario the Senators and Habs went through last season. At one point, Montreal coach Martin St. Louis asked general manager Kent Hughes to reach out to Ottawa counterpart Steve Staios before the second game to see the lineup the Senators would dress.
Teams try to send messages in the pre-season, and there are also players battling for jobs. The Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning had a similar scenario in a pre-season game on Thursday.
“Guys want to prove themselves,” Perron said. “It’s happened throughout the years. Montreal and (the Senators) are in a similar situation, and we’re probably trying to see who is ahead and who’s not.
The pre-season debut of veteran centre Lars Eller and defenceman Nick Jensen should buoy the Senators. Eller is back after having surgery in late July for a sports hernia, and Jensen is back after making a miraculous recovery from a hip surgery he had in May.
Both were regular participants in the club’s skate on Friday, and coach Travis Green confirmed that both will play.
“I’m feeling pretty good about things right now,” Eller said. “The sooner, the better. At this point, where you can participate 100 percent in practice, the best way to get into game shape is to play games. The longer you wait, the longer it takes to get back.”
The top priority for the Senators should be getting their game together in preparation for Opening Night against the Tampa Bay Lightning on the road. The Senators are coming off a horrid 7-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday, so there is a lot to work on.
Backup goalie Leevi Merilainen has surrendered 11 of the 12 goals the club has given up in the last two games. The Senators have scored just two goals on a goalie in five pre-season games.
Goaltender Linus Ullmark, who is expected to start and play the full 60 minutes against the Habs, will carry the bulk of the work through the regular season, but with a compressed schedule, Merilainen will have to play 30 to 35 games and needs to be reliable.
The good news is none of this will matter one bit in five days, and you always have to remember it’s just the pre-season. That’s why it’s paramount that the Senators focus on playing hockey and not dropping the gloves in the final 60 minutes of the pre-season against the Habs.
The Senators haven’t played with a full lineup during the exhibition games, but after making the playoffs last spring, there is no reason to believe that won’t be the case again this season. In fact, they should be able to challenge for the top of the Atlantic Division.
To make that happen, the Senators will have to improve their 5-on-5 scoring after being ranked No. 31 in the National Hockey League last season in that category, and play better defensively than they have through camp.
“It’s about getting back to the way we play,” said alternate captain Thomas Chabot. “This is the last game that we get in pre-season, so for us it’s about nailing down the systems, all the right habits of playing.
“I know everybody expects another crazy game, but I don’t think we’re expecting that. It’s more of a last chance for everybody to get their reps in, and when we get to Tampa that we’re ready to go.”
Related