Montreal's Arber Xhekaj & Washington's Tom Wilson Have Intriguing On-Ice Conversation Ahead of Game 3

Tonight marks the critical Game 3 of the opening round Stanley Cup Playoffs series between the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals, the 1st time that they've met one another in the postseason since 2010.

Both games in Washington went the way of the Capitals, who have a 2-0 series lead as the stage is now set for playoff hockey in Montreal for the 1st time since the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.

In search of a spark for his team, Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis has inserted bruising defenseman Arber Xhekaj back into the lineup; he hasn't played since Montreal's game against the Nashville Predators on April 6.

Jayden Struble is expected to be the healthy scratch for Montreal with Xhekaj's return to the active roster.

This will be his 1st career game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and he's already hinting at big things to come by jawing at Capitals agitator Tom Wilson during the pre-game skate near center ice at Bell Centre:

Wilson already has a pair of assists in the postseason for the Capitals, with whom he is trying to win his 2nd career Stanley Cup.

Xhekaj played in 70 games this year with 6 points (1G, 5A) and a new career-high 118 penalty minutes.

Based on the near confrontation between Wilson and Xhekaj in the pre-game skate, we very well could be seeing some fisticuffs between the pair at some point during tonight's game.