Canadiens drop preseason opener to Devils 2-1

Preseason games are an opportunity to try different things, and the most significant twist from Montreal coach Martin St. Louis in Monday’s exhibition opener against the New Jersey Devils was on defence.

The Canadiens don’t have a lot of depth on the right side and St. Louis decided to experiment by using Jordan Harris, a left-handed shot, on the right alongside Kaiden Guhle. Harris’s collegiate background is reflected in his heady play, didn’t look out of place on his off-side and it will be interesting to see if he challenges veteran Chris Wideman for ice time.

Cole Caufield picked up where he left last season when he scored the only goal of the first period. Montreal went on the power play after former Canadien Tomas Tatar was sent off for goaltender interference, and Mike Hoffman set up Caufield for a shot from the left faceoff circle that went over Mackenzie Blackwood’s right shoulder.

Caufield, who said earlier in the camp that he was being encouraged to shoot more, led the Canadiens with five shots on goal.

Juraj Slafkovsky, who was the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, was cheered when he led a rush on the game’s first shift. He made two crisp passes on that shift and later forced a turnover in the neutral zone, but the rest of his game was pedestrian.

Jake Allen, who will be handling the lion’s share of the the goaltending duties with the Canadiens this season, played the first half of the game and was perfect as he stopped 18 shots.

Cayden Primeau, who can expect a similar workload as the No. 1 goaltender with the Laval Rocket, stopped 11 of 13 shots and took the loss. Tatar beat him on a second-period power play, finding a spot just outside the crease and burying a feed from Jesper Bratt.

Graeme Clarke beat Primeau with just under six minutes to play to give the
Devils a 2-1 victory. The Canadiens thought they had the tying goal 40 seconds later when Michael Pezzetta scored, but a replay determined that the Canadiens  were offside on the play

Newcomer Kirby Dach played with enthusiasm and there was some good news in the faceoff circle where he won four of nine  draws. Not great but better than his 33.8 per cent success rate last season.

Owen Beck, the first pick in the second round of the draft, continued to be a revelation.

Beck, who is headed back to junior at some point, had three shots on goal and won 10 of 16 faceoffs.

If you’re wondering why the Canadiens have 74 players in  camp, this was the first of six games over a nine-night span. The Canadiens travel to Toronto Wednesday, play the Winnipeg Jets at home Thursday and head to Ottawa Saturday. They have home games Monday against the Maple Leafs and Tuesday against the Senators before wrapping up the preseason down east with a pair of Kraft Hockeyville games against Ottawa next Thursday in
Gander, N.L. and  Saturday in Bouctouche, N.B.

phickey@postmedia.com

twitter.com/zababes1

1. Game Day Notebook: Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki is back on skates

2. Stu Cowan: Canadiens focusing on development under Martin St. Louis

3. Stu Cowan: Another Richard shines for Canadiens at Bell Centre