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

Montreal Canadiens vs. Calgary Flames

How to watch

Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In Canada: Sportsnet (English)
In the Canadiens region: RDS (French)
Streaming: NHL.tv/NHL Live, RDS Direct, Sportsnet Now

The Calgary Flames have severely underperformed this season, to the point that their playoff chances are dangling by a thread with 14 games remaining on their schedule. They need to win nearly every game they play the rest of the way, and two points are critical in tonight’s game, and the four others they play against Montreal before their regular season concludes.

The club will be the most desperate opponent the Habs have faced all year, and Montreal needs to be prepared to fight a cornered foe. They can build upon the very recent success earned by starting their game versus Toronto with a lot of energy and knocking off one of the league’s top teams, but they won’t be able to have a let-up like the one that allowed the Leafs back in that game.

After recovering from his bout with COVID-19, Joel Armia will be in the lineup for the first time since March 20. Montreal will be happy to have him back, especially if he can bring his physical board play with him in his first outing. However, they may miss Jake Evans’s presence in the lineup, as he has been one of the team’s hardest-working players in recent games, but gets placed on the sidelines to allow Armia’s return.

The attention will be on Eric Staal to see if he can elevate his game to the level needed, because at this stage of his tenure in Montreal it’s hard to argue that he deserves the fourth-line centre role more than Evans. A good effort in a win tonight might go a long way for the oldest player on the team.

Montreal Canadiens projected lineup

Scratched: Jake Evans
Injured: Ben Chiarot (broken hand), Brendan Gallagher (broken thumb), Carey Price (lower-body)
COVID unavailable list: Erik Gustafsson, Jon Merrill

Calgary Flames projected lineup