Montreal Canadiens: Watch Highlights From Second Rookie Camp Game

The Montreal Canadiens rookie tournament is underway and the team of Habs future hopefuls fell 6-3 to the Buffalo Sabres in their opening game.

That was a Friday night game that was a seesaw affair until the third period when the Sabres prospects showed they had a little more gas in the tank. Buffalo pulled away late and won the game 6-3.

The Canadiens were back in action Saturday afternoon in a game against Boston Bruins prospects. This time the Habs would come out on top with a tidier defensive effort leading to a 4-1 victory.

The Bruins scored first, early in the game, but the Canadiens responded quickly. It was Cedrick Guindon, a fourth round pick in 2022, who got the Habs on the board. It was a power play and there was a mad scramble around the Bruins crease. Filip Mesar and Jan Mysak had cracks at it but the puck remained free and Guindon pounced on it late to knock it into the net.

Jan Mysak gave the Canadiens a lead early in the second period when he scored what would become the game’s winning goal. Logan Mailloux got the play started moving the puck out of the defensive zone to Joshua Roy. A good read and a quick flip pass sent Mysak through the neutral zone with speed and created an odd man rush. Mysak, the Habs second round pick in 2020 fired home an accurate wrist shot off the rush.

The score remained 2-1 until midway through the third period. Defenseman Christopher Ortiz made a great defensive play to disrupt a Bruins rush and then stole the puck and carried it up ice. The undrafted free agent has signed a minor league contract with the Laval Rocket, and he looked poised as he dashed into the attacking zone and slid a pass back to Joshua Roy who quickly one-timed it for the 3-1 lead.

Ty Smilanic, who is playing for a professional contract after choosing to leave college, scored an empty net goal to make it 4-1 with 3:33 to play. He was gifted the goal as the Bruins defenders turned the puck over in their own zone which gave Smilanic a breakaway on an empty net.

That was the final score, as the Habs won their first game of the tournament in their second contest. They will wrap up the annual event when they take on the Ottawa Senators rookies on Monday at 1:30 PM EST.

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