Montreal Canadiens: It’s a Drou-end to the Preseason

After Saturday night, the Montreal Canadiens will be finished with the preseason as they take on the Ottawa Senators at home.

It took two weeks and seven games but the Montreal Canadiens are almost done with the preseason. They’ll only have to get passed the Ottawa Senators first.

Claude Julien mentioned on Friday that the line-up for this game will resemble what the official team will look like. Jonathan Drouin will be present to build off the excellent performance he had against the Toronto Maple Leafs. When things were falling, he seemed to find another gear and generate a lot of scoring chances for the Habs.

Additionally, it looks like Paul Byron and Andrew Shaw will get another look with Phillip Danault. The three spend a decent amount of time in the offensive zone, and they have all the aspects of a great line: speed, skill, and grit. If they duplicate what they did Friday night, this could end up being more than just a preseason experiment.

Related Story: Byron and Shaw Lead the Team to Victory

The majority of the defence pairings are going to run as we’d expect. Shea Weber will most likely be paired with Victor Mete and Karl Alzner with Jeff Petry. What’s interesting is that Eric Gelinas wasn’t put in the line-up.

You’d think with this being the final preseason game that Julien would give him a final shot to prove his worth. However, it looks like they made their decision on him a while ago. Renaurd Lavoie from TVAsports.com tweeted earlier that Gelinas has been offered an AHL contract with the Laval Rocket.

If that’s the case, it doesn’t make sense to play him. What the Habs may be paying attention to, in terms of the blue-line, is Mark Streit. The Stanley Cup champion hasn’t look good at all but management looks like they want to give him another look.It’s safe to say that the bottom six is wide open at the moment.

Speaking of open, the fourth line spot is up for grabs at all. At the beginning of training camp, many would have plugged Torrey Mitchell there easily. Jacob de La Rose has been playing a lot better lately, so much so that he could make the team. With the way things have been, Alex Galchenyuk may be playing on his wing.

The decisions start tomorrow, but for now, let’s see if the Montreal Canadiens can finish this off on a positive note.

Next: What Do the Habs Do With Galchenyuk?

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