Previewing The Final Habs Preseason Game

After Tuesday’s matchup, filled with a ton of rough stuff with 152 total penalty minutes in the game, both teams are keeping some of their top players out of the lineup to avoid injuries. The Canadiens are still dressing their top line against the Senators so that they can get some game time and have their legs ready for the season opener next Wednesday. It will instead be Ivan Demidov, who was slashed viciously by Nick Cousins in the 3rd period, out of the lineup. Thankfully, there was no major injury for Demidov, and he will be able to suit up in the team’s season-opening game.

Meanwhile, the Sens are still keeping both Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk out of tonight’s preseason matchup. They will also keep Cousins out of the game to likely avoid any retribution that could occur after his slash on Tuesday. Honestly, it’s understandable that Cousins won’t be playing for the Senators, but not playing Tkachuk and Stutzle in the last preseason game could lead them to not have their legs ready for the team’s season opener next week (although both stars played against the St. Louis Blues in the team’s 7-1 loss on Thursday). 

On top of that, the Senators traded Zach MacEwen to the New Jersey Devils on Friday for defenseman Kurtis MacDermid, who is an upgrade in the enforcer department. It’s possible that Tuesday’s game, where the Xhekaj brothers got the best of MacEwen and other Senator tough guys, led to them deciding to get tougher by acquiring MacDermid instead.

The Habs will be dressing both Xhekaj brothers tonight to make sure that the Senator enforcers don’t jump on the Canadiens’ top players like Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, who will be playing tonight. The main goal for Caufield, Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky tonight will be to have a good showing to prove they are ready for opening night. They don’t need to have a dominant night, but should show some good endurance throughout the game for it to be a successful final preseason game. 

Along with Demidov having the night off, both Oliver Kapanen and Alex Newhook will also be out of the lineup. This is a sign that the Habs trust these three players to start the year as a line. 

Zachary Bolduc will also be missing from tonight’s game with a lower-body injury and is listed as day-to-day. Joe Veleno has slotted in on the line that Bolduc was playing on during Tuesday’s game with Kirby Dach and Brendan Gallagher. It will be interesting to see if Bolduc will be healthy enough to play the season opener, but if not, Veleno could prove to be a fit to slot in on what appears to be the team’s 3rd line to start the year. Tonight will be a test to see if Veleno works with Dach and Gallagher.

Patrik Laine will be joined on a line with Jake Evans and Josh Anderson tonight, which could be an interesting trio that allows all three players to complement each other well. Both Evans and Anderson can cover for Laine’s lack of defensive ability, which could allow Laine to focus more on his offensive game with less worry on that part of the game. Anderson will also bring good speed and size in front of the net that could help create some offensive production from this line at even strength.

Tonight’s last forward line consists of Florian Xhekaj, Owen Beck and Sammy Blais, which should bring a lot of sandpaper to the Canadiens’ lineup to be ready for possibly yet another chippy game.

On defense, the pairing of Kaiden Guhle and Lane Hutson will be back together; meanwhile, Noah Dobson will be playing alongside Jayden Struble. Due to groin injuries, both Guhle and Dobson haven’t played a game in over a week. Tonight’s game will be great for them to get their legs ready for the season. Arber Xhekaj and Adam Engstrom will form the Habs’ 3rd pairing for the night, meaning Struble will be given a chance to show that he can be a regular in the lineup if needed by playing with a mainstay like Dobson.

Finally, netminder Samuel Montembeault is expected to play the full game tonight against the Senators.

The Habs are looking like they could be in for another strong preseason game, but the team should try to treat this like a regular-season game to help them be properly prepared to play the Maple Leafs on Wednesday. 

Do you expect a lot of rough stuff in tonight’s game?