Martin St. Louis fires back at DJ Smith.

There appears to be quite the rivalry brewing between the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators, and at the center of it all seems to be the play of undrafted 21 year old defenseman Arber Xhekaj. Xhekaj, who plays for the Montreal Canadiens, has been showing off his physical prowess in the preseason and it has come entirely at the expense of the Senators who have clashed with the Habs several times already in the preseason.

Unsurprisingly the same antics that have endeared Xhekaj to the Canadiens' fan base have only served to rub the Ottawa Senators and their fans the wrong way, and that might even extend to Senators head coach DJ Smith. Recently Smith commented on the level of physicality the Canadiens have brought in the preseason, and it was hard not to read too much into Smith's message which read very much like a warning to the Habs.

"We don't like (players from) the other team targeting our guys," he said. "We'll be ready for the next game."

That next game has arrived and the Canadiens will once again square off against the Senators in preseason action this evening at 6:30 pm EST. and it sounds like Smith and the Senators may be looking to send a message. If that message was meant to phase the Canadiens though it doesn't seem to be working all that well. When he was asked about the comments made by his rival head coach this evening, Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis kept it short and sweet and pointed to the fact that there will be many young fans in attendance this evening.

"We’re playing in front of a bunch of kids here who love the NHL," said St. Louis. "We played four games against them, all good games.”

St. Louis would also go on to reject any notion that his players have been deliberately targeting members of the Senators roster, reminding everyone that hockey is simply a physical sport.

"I don't think we were targeting anybody, I think we tried to play the game and physicality is part of the game."

Something that the Canadiens will no doubt look to repeat again on Saturday night.