Photoshop Game Day Preview - Montreal returns to Ottawa

By Kevin Lee

Thursday's game marks the first time the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens will meet since the playoff massacre last season. Given the smattering of events that occurred during the memorable series, there are plenty of narratives coming into tonight's all-important-must-win-four-point-game. Here's a preview of some of the biggest story lines to watch out for.

• Michel Therrien took last year's playoff loss to heart and decided to adopt some of Paul MacLean's most successful coaching strategies. Unfortunately for Therrien, he failed to keep track of the most recent roster moves.

"Wait? 'e not show up for rematch? No rispeck."

• Matt Kassian has had this date marked on his calendar for quite some time. The last time he played the Habs he had the least offensive game in his NHL career, in that he had the best offensive output of his career. He notched 2 assists, one of them on the power play to help lead the Sens to a series-winning 6-1 victory. He's definitely hoping he'll be able to put the same performance together again.

He'll even sign the stat sheet for you if you stop by the press box during the game

• Will the Montreal Canadians try to make Eric Gryba pay for his hit on Lars Eller? We think the odds are fairly low after their 0-5 record in the game 3 line brawl. There's also the size factor to consider...

You've gotta keep those thumbs down if you want to avoid headshots.

• "If I'm not making Team Canada, neither are you!" With Spezza growing increasingly bitter with his inability to crack the Olympic roster, we can expect him to try and single-handedly ruin Carey Price's chances of making the squad tonight. Here's a simulated photo of Jason Spezza making Carey Price look so bad, he'll wish his name were Sheldon Souray.

Peter Budaj is jealous of Price's excellent positioning

• Let's also not forget some of the words that were said by Brandon Prust during the playoffs towards Paul MacLean, but we all know who had the last laugh:

I think Erik Karlsson is the vomit in this analogy, but I can't be sure.

Update: Here are some key statistics about the rivalry dug up by our very own Chet Sellers:

did you know? including this season, the senators leads the canadiens in norris trophies 2-1 over the last three years

— Chet Sellers (@chet_sellers) November 7, 2013

did you know? the canadiens' current roster has never won the stanley cup once in the team's 105-year history

— Chet Sellers (@chet_sellers) November 7, 2013

Enjoy the game tonight folks!