The Montreal Canadiens are set to face the Ottawa Senators in split games that will be played simultaneously on Saturday, with one match up taking place at the Bell Centre, and the other at the Canadian Tire Centre. Both games are scheduled to begin at 7 pm ET.
It will be the final preseason opportunity for several NHL hopefuls, including defenceman David Reinbacher, and forward Florian Xhekaj, the two players who have the best odds of making the team out of camp.
Reinbacher is aiming to earn a job on the blue line, a situation that has been helped along by Kaiden Guhle’s absence. Guhle is expected to miss another four weeks of action as he recovers from his latest surgery. Reinbacher is set to play in Ottawa, paired with yet another defenceman with NHL aspirations, the smooth-skating Adam Engstrom.
The pairing will play second fiddle to Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble, two hard-hitting defencemen who will be tasked with regulating some of the shenanigans that inevitably take place whenever the Habs and Senators face off.
As for F. Xhekaj, his truculent approach is exactly what the Canadiens are looking for in their bottom-six, and though he’s facing a crowded forward lineup, his intensity and affinity for providing more than just a physical presence should give him the inside track on any other young player in the mix. He will be playing in Montreal, on a fourth line alongside fellow prospects Owen Beck and Tyler Thorpe, the epitome of an energy line.
It should be noted that Ivan Demidov and Lane Hutson will not take part in either game, and will take the opportunity to rest prior to the start of the regular season on Tuesday, versus the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup – Group A (@Montreal)
Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Chris Kreider
Alex Newhook – Phillip Danault – Juraj Slafkovsky
Alexandre Texier – Jake Evans – Josh Anderson
Florian Xhekaj – Owen Beck – Tyler Thorpe
Mike Matheson – Noah Dobson
Alexandre Carrier – Luke Mittelstadt
Max Szuber – Ethan Samson
Jacob Fowler
Samuel Montembeault
Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup – Group B (@ Ottawa)
Zachary Bolduc – Oliver Kapanen – Kirby Dach
Jared Davidson – Laurent Dauphin – Alex Belzile
Brett Berard – Hunter McKown – Sasha Pastujov
Samuel Poulin – Filip Mesar – Dillan Bentley
Jayden Struble – Arber Xhekaj
Adam Engstrom – David Reinbacher
Owen Protz – Reilly Walsh
Jakub Dobes
Kaapo Kahkonen
How To Watch The Habs Vs. The Senators – Preseason Split Games
The Montreal Canadiens versus the Ottawa Senators, Saturday, September 26, will feature two concurrent games.
Group A will play at the Bell Centre, in Montreal. It will be aired on TSN5 and RDS.
Group B will play at the Canadian Tire Centre, in Ottawa. Unfortunately, it does not appear that there will be any official broadcast of this game aired live on TV. If they do add a broadcast, we will update the preview, but for the time being, it will only be available on local radio (TSN 1200).
You may be wondering why we do not have access to a game in 2026, but such is life as an NHL fan. Running simultaneous games doesn’t make much sense to begin with, and this is just the cherry on the top of the terrible-scheduling sundae by the league.
The Senators have mentioned on social media that they will stream the game on their website, but there’s no link available at this time.
Marc has been covering the Habs for over a decade. He previously worked for Journal Metro, The Athletic, The … More about Marc Dumont