Montreal Canadiens to make important lineup changes against the Ottawa Senators tonight

Last Tuesday, the Senators and the Canadiens met in Montreal for an exhibition game. Physical and intense games seem to be the theme this year. Once again, we saw multiple fights and injuries on the ice.

Ridly Greig was the first one to hit, going after Kirby Dach, forcing him to retreat to the locker room for a few minutes. Greig later refused to drop the gloves multiple times, and Arber Xhekaj went after Tim Stutzle, in a controversial hit, before fighting against Sens' captain Brady Tkachuk.

Then, Kirby Dach closed the books by forcing Greig to drop the gloves in retaliation for his hit.

Now that the table is set, let's take a look at what we can expect tonight.

The Canadiens head coach Martin St-Louis held a press conference earlier today, and he revealed that the first line (Cole Caufield - Nick Suzuki - Juraj Slafkovsky) won't be playing. Kirby Dach and Lane Hutson will also miss the game. However, the coach stated that Kaiden Guhle will be in uniform for the first time of the preseason, and we should expect more call-ups to be announced before the game.

Usually, coaches like to have their full regular-season lineup for the last preseason game, but considering how things are going right now in the NHL, it's a safe move to bench key players.

Here's what St-Louis said about this issue:

It's evident that players and coaches are ready for the season and just want to get over the preseason. For the Canadiens, the real thing will start next Wednesday, when they receive the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Center.