The Senators defeated the Canadiens on home ice, but lost the split-squad contest in Montreal.

The auditions are over for the Ottawa Senators, and they couldn’t end soon enough.

The Senators closed out the National Hockey League exhibition season with 4-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at the Canadian Tire Centre and a 4-2 loss to the Habs in Montreal, but there was cause for concern when the final buzzer sounded in Ottawa.

Defenceman Jake Sanderson, who was only suiting up for his first preseason game because he’d been nursing an undisclosed ailment, left the game midway through the second period. That was not a good sign.

Sanderson had an assist on Drake Batherson’s goal at 10:51 of the second period on a 5-on-3 power play, but then immediately went to the dressing room. The Senators called it a departure “for precautionary reasons” and coach Travis Green said Sanderson will be ready for opening night in the regular season against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“He’s fine,” said Green. “Precautionary.”

His status will play a role in the final roster decisions made in the next 24 hours.

William Eklund scored the winner for Ottawa with the man advantage in the third period, and that was the club’s fourth power-play goal of the night. Winger Andre Burakovsky also left the game in the third in Ottawa after taking a hard hit.

Steve Staios, the Senators’ president of hockey operations and general manager, along with head coach Travis Green and the rest of the staff, much determine what players will start the season on the 23-man NHL roster, which must be finalized by 5 p.m. ET on Monday.

Though the camp had already been split into two groups before these two games, there will be a significant number of players assigned to the American Hockey League affiliate at Belleville on Sunday.

The Senators sent what was mostly an AHL lineup to Montreal, while the home crowd got to see most of the regular roster. None of the preseason games this fall were particularly entertaining, but the one in Ottawa on Saturday had better jam than any we’ve seen previously.

Defenceman Thomas Chabot, who was back in the lineup after being with his wife, Marion, for the birth of their first child _ a healthy daughter _  also played in his first preseason game.

“To start building a family is bigger than anything in life,” said Chabot. “Everybody gives me all the flowers for playing with a broken arm. But that was 20 times, if not 100 times harder, and I know she killed it. She’s a warrior… both are healthy and that’s all that matters.”

Likely more than people expected heading into camp.

Ottawa has been hampered by injuries throughout the past 10 days. The expectation is that defenceman Artem Zub and forwards Warren Foegele and Kurtis MacDermid will start the season on injured reserve.

A two-game suspension for forward Ridly Greig to start the season means Phillip Tomasino and Sam Blais could have an opportunity to open the season with Ottawa.

Tim Stutzle skated with Eklund and Fabian Zetterlund on Saturday, while Andre Burakovsky was alongside Dylan Cozens and Drake Batherson. Shane Pinto didn’t play, but a third line featuring him with Michael Amadio and Claude Giroux appears likely to start the season.

The fourth line will likely feature Steven Halliday with Nick Cousins and either Tomasino or Blais. Hayden Hodgson is in the mix as well. Tomasino scored in the first period in Montreal on Saturday.

Pinto didn’t skate Saturday because he was nursing an injury, so that will be another situation to watch.

The knee injury to Artem Zub, which will prevent him from starting the season, has opened the door for someone else. It would make sense for Nikolas Matinpalo to skate alongside Sanderson to begin the schedule, while Thomas Chabot and Jordan Spence appear set to form another pairing.

But, if Sanderson isn’t healthy for the opener, that’s cause for concern.

All eyes will be on the future of top prospect Carter Yakemchuk. He has struggled with consistency during the preseason, but he skated on the third pairing with Tyler Kleven on Saturday. Yakemchuk didn’t hurt his cause, either, by scoring his first goal of the preseason for a 3-1 lead.

Veteran Ben Hutton, who was brought in on a professional tryout, suited up with the group in Montreal. He’s attempting to earn a contract and has more than 500 games of NHL experience, something the Senators could use. It would be surprising if Hutton doesn’t get a deal with Ottawa.

Another name you should keep an eye on during the season is Djibril Toure. He won’t start the season with the NHL Senators, but he has made his impact felt and dropped the gloves with Tyler Thorpe in the first period in Montreal.

Toure has made himself a candidate to be called up because this team lacks muscle. Green said Toure and Stanley had good camps.

Top goaltender Linus Ullmark made the start in Ottawa and backup Samuel Ersson played in Montreal. Both had the chance to play two full games in the preseason, which should be enough.

Batherson, Yakemchuk and Giroux all scored on the power play to give the Senators a 3-1 lead through 40 minutes. Batherson’s was a blast from the circle on a 5-on-3.

The Habs scored twice in the third to tie it up 3-3. Ullmark would have wanted another chance to prevent Montreal’s second goal by Alex Belzile.

“The game was a little cleaner than we’ve seen in the past,” said Green. “It was a good game.”

bgarrioch@postmedia.com