Canadiens 5, Senators 0

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Game Information

Arena: Bell Centre Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Attendance: 21,273 (100.0% full)

Scoring Summary
1ST PERIOD
No scoring this period
2ND PERIOD
	3:41	Sergei Kostitsyn (power play) Assist: Andrei Kostitsyn, Andrei Markov
	13:06	Matt D'Agostini Assist: David Desharnais, Gregory Stewart
	16:38	Andrei Markov (power play) Assist: Max Pacioretty, Sergei Kostitsyn
	18:40	Yannick Weber Assist: Andrei Kostitsyn, Alex Kovalev
3RD PERIOD
	:24	Andrei Kostitsyn (power play) Assist: Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Markov

MONTREAL -- Andrei Kostitsyn and Andrei Markov both had a goal and two assists, and Jaroslav Halak stopped 21 shots in the Montreal Canadiens' 5-0 preseason victory over the Ottawa Senators on Friday night.

Halak, who is likely to serve as the backup to No. 1 goalie Carey Price, turned aside seven shots in a scoreless first period. He made six saves in the second and eight more in the third for Montreal (3-1).

Kostitsyn scored the Canadiens' fifth goal on Ottawa goalie Alex Auld early in the third after his brother, Sergei, opened the scoring 3:41 into the second. It was the first of four goals on 17 shots by Montreal in the middle period.

"When that team has the puck a lot they make you pay, and that's what they did tonight," Senators coach Craig Hartsburg said.

The Canadiens, who are honoring their 100th season in 2008-09, played their first preseason game at the Bell Centre and introduced the 21,273-seat arena's new video scoreboard and a new goal celebration song by Simple Plan.

"Go Habs Go!", written for the team and performed by the Montreal-based rock band, was played after Sergei Kostitsyn scored the first of the Canadiens' three power-play goals.

The up-tempo rocker, which replaces U2's "Vertigo" as the team's goal song, was heard three more times in the period following goals by Matt D'Agostini, Markov and Yannick Weber.

"I think it was fun coming back home and the fans were into it like it was a playoff game," Canadiens center Maxim Lapierre said. "All the guys played really good and worked really hard."

Auld, who is expected to be Martin Gerber's backup, made 25 saves for Ottawa (2-2).

"He was left defenseless for a lot of the goals," Hartsburg said. "I can't really blame Alex for any of those."

The scoreboard's four HD video screens each measure 40 feet x 25 feet, the largest display size in the league and five times larger than the Bell Centre's previous scoreboard.

"I looked at it during the game and I was kind of dizzy because it's pretty big," Lapierre said.

Canadiens defenseman Alex Henry got two of Montreal's four fighting majors after bouts with Chris Neil in the second period, and Brad Isbister in the third.

Ottawa's Cody Bass fought with Tom Kostopoulos early in the second, and Senators center Zach Smith squared off with P.K. Subban in the third.

The teams play again Saturday night in Ottawa, the Senators' last preseason game in North America before they leave for Sweden, where they will finish their training camp and open the NHL schedule on Oct. 4-5 with games in Stockholm against the Pittsburgh Penguins.