How to watch
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Flames region: Sportsnet West
Streaming: ESPN+, NHL Live, RDS Direct, Sportsnet Now, TSN Direct
The Canadiens have had encouraging moments in nearly all of the their games since returning home from California. There was the win versus Detroit, an exceptional first period versus the Vegas Golden Knights, then a mostly good contest versus the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday after a bad showing versus the same team just over a week earlier. The results aren’t quite there — three points out of eight — but at least there are signs of life from a team still dealing with some key injuries.
The bad news is tonight’s opponent is the toughest one they had to face in this five-game home set. The Flames are near the top of the league in many categories, and looking like one of the Stanley Cup contenders this season.
Ignoring everything else they’re doing well, it’s Calgary’s offence that could be the toughest aspect to overcome for the Canadiens, who average about 1.5 goals less per game. They have trouble outscoring any opponent, let alone one backstopped by one of the top goalies in the league right now. If Montreal is going to solve Jacob Markstrom, they need to make a commitment to the cross-ice playmaking that featured quite prominently on their power plays last games.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
Forwards
Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
Mike Hoffman |
Nick Suzuki |
Tyler Toffoli |
Josh Anderson |
Christian Dvorak |
Brendan Gallagher |
Artturi Lehkonen |
Jake Evans |
Joel Armia |
Michael Pezzetta |
Ryan Poehling |
Alex Belzile |
Defencemen
Left Defence |
Right Defence |
Left Defence |
Right Defence |
Ben Chiarot |
Jeff Petry |
Brett Kulak |
David Savard |
Alexander Romanov |
Chris Wideman |
Goaltenders
Starter |
Backup |
Starter |
Backup |
Jake Allen |
Samuel Montembeault |
Calgary Flames projected lineup
Forwards
Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
Johnny Gaudreau |
Elias Lindholm |
Matthew Tkachuk |
Blake Coleman |
Sean Monahan |
Andrew Mangiapane |
Dillon Dube |
Mikael Backlund |
Trevor Lewis |
Milan Lucic |
Brad Richardson |
Tyler Pitlick |
Defencemen
Left Defence |
Right Defence |
Left Defence |
Right Defence |
Noah Hanifin |
Rasmus Andersson |
Oliver Kylington |
Chris Tanev |
Nikita Zadorov |
Erik Gudbranson |
Goaltenders
Starter |
Backup |
Starter |
Backup |
Jacob Markstrom |
Dan Vladar |
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