Ottawa Senators Head Coach Travis Green on the Tim Stutzle Injury in Montreal: "Anytime You See a Blatant Elbow to the Head, You Don't Want to See That"

The Ottawa Senators improved their pre-season record to 3-2 with a fiery 4-3 road win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night. Carter Yakemchuk and Adam Gaudette both had a goal and an assist, while Drake Batherson added two helpers

Linus Ullmark made 29 saves on 32 shots, including a beautiful glove save with 1:20 left to preserve the lead.

It was the first pre-season game for Josh Norris, who looked solid and got better all night. He had one assist and would have had another had Jake Sanderson's goal not been ruled offside.

The game got feisty late in the first period when Ridly Greig caught Kirby Dach with a late hit as he came over the blue line. It was shoulder on chest, but it rocked Dach, who didn't expect it. Greig was hit with an interference penalty.

Midway through the second, Habs policeman Arber Xhekaj got even with the Sens. He was thrown out of the game for a late, high hit on Tim Stutzle as he came over the offensive blue line. Xhekaj appeared to catch Stutzle on the chin as Stutzle's stick seemed to get wedged in between.

"Guys play on the edge and there are emotions in the game, but anytime you see a blatant elbow to the head, it's... you don't want to see that," Head coach Travis Green told TSN 1200.

If that was meant to be payback for the Greig hit, it didn't satisfy Dach. In the third period, he still opted to square off against Greig, who gives away four inches and 33 pounds. Dach got the win but Greig, who was at the end of a long shift, got a couple of shots in.

The Senators finished the game with 14 skaters. Stutzle left after the head contact from the Xhekaj hit. Tkachuk left after wrestling Xhekaj. Thomas Chabot left the game for precautionary reasons and Greig got a misconduct that ended his night.

Ottawa's goals were all scored on the power play from Michael Amadio, Gaudette, Greig, and Yakemchuk. Green says he likes that Yakemchuk is a quick study and, ever so slightly, the coach cracked open the notion that it's at least a possibility that Yakemchuk could start the season here.

"Yeah, I thought Carter looked at the beginning of the game like it was a little quick for him," Green told TSN 1200 radio. "But by the end, he looked like he adjusted and he was fine. It's kind of been the story of his training camp so far. You know, his first time on the ice, he kind of isn't up to speed and rightfully so.

"But he's a quick learner and he did it again tonight. He looked a little behind to start the game and then all of a sudden he looked like he figured out the pace is a little higher. And it'll take another jump as we get into regular season too."

The Senators' next game is Friday night in Detroit against the Red Wings, before closing out the pre-season with a rematch at home against Montreal on Saturday.

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