Canadiens @ Bruins: Game thread, rosters, lines, and how to watch

Montreal Canadiens @ Boston Bruins

How to watch

Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In Canada: Sportsnet (English)
In the Canadiens region: RDS (French)
In the U.S.: TNT
Streaming: ESPN+, NHL Live, RDS Direct, TSN Direct

After 10 days, the Montreal Canadiens have enough players healthy that they can actually be called a team once more. They just managed to get to the minimum number of forwards, but there are some familiar names in the lineup for this evening’s contest.

Artturi Lehkonen and Mike Hoffman return to flank Nick Suzuki on the top line. Lehkonen had put together some good games with Cole Caufield before being placed in COVID protocol, but that’s not a duo Dominique Ducharme wants to reunite for this game. Instead the coach will have Caufield on a third trio with Ryan Poehling and Laurent Dauphin, two players who have run with this opportunity they’ve earned in this odd season and are making their cases to stay in the lineup as more players come back into the fold.

That’s also true for Lukas Vejdemo, who tonight serves as the fourth-line centre. Jake Evans will be returning at some point to take a spot down the middle, so Vejdemo will want to show that it shouldn’t be the one he’s currently occupying. At the very least, a fourth strong game against what all turned out to be top-tier opponents should prove his ability to perform at this level, and claim the spot he perhaps should have had after training camp in the first place.

Montreal Canadiens projected lineup

Boston Bruins projected lineup