Lines and defense pairings at morning skate – Sept. 26

BROSSARD – The Canadiens held a brief morning skate at the CN Sports Complex ahead of their departure for Thursday’s preseason game against the Maple Leafs in Toronto.

Here are the lines and defense pairings featured by head coach Martin St-Louis:

Brandon Gignac and Riley Kidney will see game action for the first time this preseason. The rest of the lineup is set to make their second appearances of the exhibition schedule.

Earlier this week, Alex Barré-Boulet, Emil Heineman, Michael Pezzetta (2) and Luke Tuch each found the back of the net against the Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils. Between the pipes, Jakub Dobeš and Connor Hughes were perfect in their split-duty appearances.

The team also provided an update defenseman on Kaiden Guhle on Thursday. The 22-year-old has resumed skating on his own and is being evaluated on a daily basis following an appendectomy last week.

Group A skated ahead of the 20 players headed to Toronto. Here are the players who were on the ice:

Forwards: Josh Anderson, Cole Caufield, Kirby Dach, Laurent Dauphin, Brendan Gallagher, Patrik Laine, Juraj Slafkovský, Nick Suzuki

Defensemen: Logan Mailloux, Mike Matheson, David Savard, William Trudeau

Goalies: Samuel Montembeault, Cayden Primeau

Group B is scheduled to practice at 10:45 a.m.

Puck drop at Scotiabank Arena is set for 7:00 p.m. ET. Habs fans can watch the game on Sportsnet or RDS.