There was a young boy with a sign begging for a Juraj Slafkovsky or Cole Caufield goal. The little guy did not know this happiness in the classic intra-squad game between the Reds and the Whites, Sunday, at the Bell Centre.
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Slafkovsky and Caufield have not set foot on the ice as they will be there for the visit of the New Jersey Devils in the first of eight preseason games on Monday night.
Martin St-Louis and his assistants had also offered leave to Kirby Dach, Michael Matheson, Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris, Justin Barron and Jake Allen.
Victory of the Reds
There were therefore not a ton of big names for this meeting which ended in a 7-2 win for the Reds. Jake Evans played center of the winning team’s first line along with Jonathan Drouin and Joel Armia.
If Armia hit the target once, Anthony Richard also caught the eye with two goals and an assist.
“I’ve been watching the Canadiens since I was practically born, I was a year old and I was sitting in front of the television, said Richard with a big smile. For five minutes, I enjoyed the outside of a game like atmosphere and stepping onto the ice to the sound of Fix You. »
In the shadows since the start of this camp due to the presence of many forwards with one-way NHL contracts, Richard simply hopes to mix things up.
“The Canadian had seen me in the playoffs when I played in Syracuse once morest the Rocket, he recalled. I’ve been in the pros for five years and I’ve always been told that if you play well, you can force a team’s hand. There can always be moves even though I know it’s hard to move guys with one-way contracts. »
A 4th round pick of the Nashville Predators in 2015, Richard has a slim two-game NHL experience. He had participated in a meeting with the Preds in 2018-2019 and another meeting the following season. Last year, the Tampa Bay Lightning acquired Nashville, but he spent most of his time with Benoit Groulx’s Syracuse Crunch.
Dadonov charmé
On the White team, there was an NHL-worthy line with Christian Dvorak in the center of Evgenii Dadonov and Brendan Gallagher.
Acquired from the Golden Knights in the trade of Shea Weber, Dadonov had his first contact with the Montreal crowd.
“I was wearing a white jersey and I was on the visitors’ bench, so it’s not a real game yet! I suspected there would be a lot of people, but not as many. Last year when visiting Vegas, I think there were fewer fans in the stands in Montreal. »
√ Élizabeth Mantha, the first woman to referee a match in the QMJHL, obtained an invitation to participate in this intra-squad match.
