Canadiens vs. Penguins Qualifier Game 4: Game thread, rosters, lines, and how to watch

Stanley Cup Qualifiers: Game 4

Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

How to watch

Start time: 4:00 PM EDT / 1:00 PM PDT
In Canada: Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the US: NBCSN
In the Penguins region: ATTSN Pittsburgh
Streaming: Sportsnet Now, NHL.tv

Two quick power-play goals from the Penguins in Game 3 finally got the message across that the Canadiens needed to stop taking so many penalties. Guilty of 12 infractions through two games, Montreal went to the box just one more time after that early offensive flurry from their opponent.

That certainly played a big factor in allowing Montreal to stage their comeback, proving to be the better team at five-on-five, especially after a few lineup changes.

Unfortunately, some of the juggling was necessitated by a game-ending injury for Jake Evans, who was making his NHL debut. Evans’s misfortune will be Alex Belzile’s gain in Game 4. The 28-year-old will get his first NHL post-season experience, his first official NHL game after a debut in the exhibition that he was also forced to leave early with a head injury. Claude Julien has been trying to find a combination he likes for his fourth line, and after obvious hints that Belzile was being considered for the right-wing role on the bottom trio in the exhibition game, the coach finally gets to deploy him in a key match. There’s a lot of pressure on Belzile to perform, but his style of play will help to overcome any nerves.

As for the other three lines, we’ll see if the changes Julien made in the second period of Game 3 carry over to today’s contest, or if the coach goes with the same formation that had started the first three contests of the qualifying round. Montreal looked the most dangerous it had all series after the switches, and we’ll see if Julien has faith in his new alignment.

Montreal Canadiens projected lineup

Scratches: Cale Fleury, Christian Folin, Charles Hudon, Noah Juulsen, Michael McNiven, Gustav Olofsson, Ryan Poehling, Cayden Primeau
Injured: Jake Evans

Pittsburgh Penguins projected lineup