Canadiens @ Maple Leafs Round 1 Game 2: Game thread, rosters, lines, and how to watch

2021 North Division Semifinals Game 2

Montreal Canadiens @ Toronto Maple Leafs

MTL leads series 1-0

How to watch

Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In Canada: CBC, Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the U.S.: CNBC
Streaming: NHL.tv/NHL Live, Sportsnet Now

With the full lineup healthy, we saw a much different Canadiens team in Game 1 that we’d watched drag itself into the playoffs in the final weeks of the regular season. The Habs had clearly used the time off to work on the defensive-zone breakouts that had completely failed them in the previous month, and that allowed them to play a fairly even game with the Maple Leafs, minus a sloppy second period when they had trouble connecting passes.

They surprised a few people by not only coming out of the opening game with a win, but holding Toronto’s offence to just a single goal. The good news for Montreal is that there’s plenty of room for offensive improvement of their own, and a power play that squandered five chances is a good place to start.

To that end, the reinstatement of Jesperi Kotkaniemi will give Montreal a different look on the man advantage. While he hasn’t exactly excelled in the odd-man situation this year, he will at least attempt things no one seemed able to do on Thursday, and after 10 days off from the game will be eager to show off his playmaking skills.

Toronto’s formation had to be reshuffled after the injury to John Tavares in the first game. They will shift Alexander Kerfoot and Nick Foligno to the centre position, and also add former Hab Alex Galchenyuk to the mix for a boost of offensive play of their own.

Montreal Canadiens projected lineup

Scratches

F: Alex Belzile, Cole Caufield, Laurent Dauphin, Michael Frolik, Lukas Vejdemo, Jesse Ylönen
D: Cale Fleury, Erik Gustafsson, Otto Leskinen, Xavier Ouellet, Alexander Romanov
G: Charlie Lindgren, Michael McNiven, Cayden Primeau

Injured/Ill

F: Jonathan Drouin (leave of absence), Jake Evans

Toronto Maple Leafs projected lineup