The Montreal Canadiens are making a couple of changes to the lineup against the Florida Panthers.

Defenceman Arber Xhekaj will not play with the team opting to go with 12 forwards. Mike Pezzetta will draw back into the lineup with Xhekaj sitting.

When Kaiden Guhle returned to the lineup, the Canadiens played with 11 forwards and seven defencemen, which led to Xhekaj operating as the extra defender. He saw limited ice time, playing just 3:52 of ice time.

As Sportsnet’s Eric Engels reported, this is how the lineup will look against Carolina.

Caufield-Suzuki-Slafkovsky
Gallagher-Dvorak-Anderson
Heineman-Newhook-Laine
Pezzetta-Evans-Armia
Matheson-Carrier
Guhle-Hutson
Struble-Savard
Montembeault

The Canadiens sit two points behind the New York Rangers for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference but have two games in hand.