Canadiens can't take Senators lightly on Saturday Night

There were two ways to look at the Montreal Canadiens' schedule when the NHL released it earlier this summer. You could have gotten excited about the possibility of playing their three biggest rivals in four nights to begin the season. It was an exciting way to get the season going before settling in and playing some of the league's other teams. However, you could have also complained about the difficulty of playing against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins on back-to-back nights before taking on the Ottawa Senators. What we couldn't have expected was the Senators possibly being the toughest test of the three matchups.

The Florida Panthers embarrassed the Bruins on opening night, leading to Boston's effort against the Canadiens on Thursday night. Florida matched up with Ottawa on Thursday, which seemed like it could be an easy 2-0 record for the Panthers. However, the Senators showed they could be a sneaky playoff contender.

The Panthers outshot the Senators 31-30, but the Senators escaped with a 3-1 victory. The catalyst was their offseason acquisition Linus Ullmark, who posted 30 saves. Tim Stutzle also added two goals, a good start after a down year in 2023-24.

Ottawa's new and improved team is extra concerning for the Canadiens considering the Senators' recent success. Ottawa has won nine consecutive games against Montreal, and it'll take a special effort to break that streak on Saturday night. The Canadiens' players made some noise this offseason, specifically Juraj Slafkovsky, by noting that he felt the Senators were the Canadiens' biggest rival.

Other players have made comments that these two teams don't like each other, which adds to the importance of Saturday's matchup. The Leafs and Bruins games to start the season received all the hype, but don't sleep on the Ottawa matchup to be the best of the three.