Canadiens vs. Red Wings: Game thread, rosters, lines, and how to watch

Montreal Canadiens vs. Detroit Red Wings

How to watch

Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In Canada: Sportsnet East, CityTV, Sportsnet Now (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the US: NHL Network
In the Red Wings region: Fox Sports Detroit
Streaming: NHL.tv/NHL Live

The Detroit Red Wings got off to surprising start in 2019-20. Largely expected to finish at the bottom of the standings, they nevertheless opened the season with three wins in their first four games. That third win came at the expense of the Canadiens, a 4-2 regulation victory earned when a red-hot Anthony Mantha recorded his sixth goal of the young campaign. The result placed Montreal’s record at a disappointing 1-1-2.

Following that game, the Red Wings lost their next eight, and just recently snapped a separate 12-game skid. Five wins in the next 29 games was all they could muster, and they head into Montreal in the originally projected spot at 31st in the NHL.

Montreal’s own slump began when several players were forced from the lineup with injury. It was thought they would soon be getting back the services of Paul Byron after he practised with the team yesterday, but he has now been ruled out for the entirety of the upoming Western Canadian road trip.

For now, Montreal will have to run with the same group it has for the last few weeks, but that is a group that has pulled out of the tailspin to start putting victories together. A game versus the Red Wings stands in the way of a four-game winning streak.

Montreal Canadiens projected lineup

Injured: Paul Byron, Jonathan Drouin, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Victor Mete, Matthew Peca
Scratched: Christian Folin, Mikey Reilly

Detroit Red Wings projected lineup