Preseason Game 7 Hub: Montreal Canadiens @ Ottawa Senators

It's finally the last game of the pre-season—we've made it through! Although the players barely have. It seems like there have been more injuries this pre-season than usual, and Ottawa's previous game against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday had some near misses that could have been a lot worse. It makes it seem like it’s not even worth playing a normal lineup each night because these games are meaningless, and losing someone to injury at this point would be unnecessary.

There is already plenty of animosity between Kirby Dach, Arber Xhekaj, Ridly Greig, Brady Tkachuk, and others across these two teams, and I don't imagine that subsiding at any point this season. Ottawa is coming off a fun 4-3 overtime comeback win last night in Detroit, and they're looking to improve their final preseason record to 5-1-1. The lines for tonight have not been released, although they could look something like what they had a few days ago unless David Perron is able to slot in for Matthew Highmore. However, they may decide to sit a few of their better players like the Canadiens will be doing:

The lines for the Montreal Canadiens are also not known yet, but head coach Marty St. Louis said that he won't be playing their first line out of caution:

Game Notes:

• Before the game, Ottawa released Calen Addison from his PTO and also sent down Tyler Boucher, Hayden Hodgson, Filip Roos, Stephen Halliday, and Angus Crookshank to the AHL. None of those moves are very surprising, although it would have been nice to see Addison show more in the pre-season to deserve a spot.
• Carter Yakemchuk is still here, and for good reason. His two goals and five assists in four games are tied for fifth in the NHL in points and are two more than any other defenseman. I'm hoping he has another great showing tonight and can convince the team to at least give him nine games to start the season.
• Donovan Sebrango is also in camp, and he made a case for himself by scoring his second goal in three games. I'd be shocked if he made the team over Tyler Kleven, although it's not as if Kleven has stood out a ton either.
• There are still some battles left on the 4th line, as Zack Ostapchuk, Zack MacEwan, Jan Jeník, Matthew Highmore, and Adam Gaudette all have a chance to make it, and it'll be a close call for opening night.
• Kirby Dach, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Nick Suzuki won't be in the lineup for Montreal, but Arber Xhekaj will be, and Kaiden Guhle will play his first preseason game after an appendectomy.
• The only goal tonight should be about nobody leaving the game with an injury. I don't think I've ever been so worried about a pre-season game before.
• I'm expecting a chippy match tonight, but hopefully not too chippy. Both teams realize this game means nothing, but it seems like there's genuine hatred there.
• Puck drop is 7:00 pm eastern, and you can watch it on TSN5.

The regular season is next up, starting on Thursday at home against the Florida Panthers!