Arber Xhekaj drops the gloves in the Canadiens preseason game against the Senators

This preseason the news cycle has been dominated by Arber Xhekaj at points and his physical style of play. Whether it's his response to the Patrik Laine injury or his overall play. Today that has continued with an Arber Xhekaj fight against Zack MacEwen. The fight can be seen below.

This fight set the tone for a physical game between the two sides. Shortly after this fight chaos broke loose between the Canadiens and Senators. A hit by Montreal Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle along the benches set things off leading to a full-line brawl. The two teams paired up and went back and forth wrestling one another to the ground in a massive scrum that can be seen below.

This has now been multiple times this season where the Canadiens and Senators have been involved in brawls. Both teams play a physical style with plenty of players willing to fight.

The Canadiens and Senators were both on the outside looking in last season when the Stanley Cup Playoffs began. After a few upgrades made by each team and expected big steps from young superstars both the Canadiens and Senators are fringe playoff teams. They likely will have a huge impact on each other's chances of making the Stanley Cup Playoffs. As the season begins the two teams will play each other plenty as they are both in the Atlantic Division.

With the NHL season just a couple of days away we will have to see if there is any discipline handed out to either team.