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

Montreal Canadiens vs. Chicago Blackhawks

How to watch

Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Blackhawks region: NBC Sports Chicago
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS Direct, TSN+

With the trade deadline a couple of weeks away and two teams facing off that are guaranteed to be sellers this year, you can expect plenty of eyes to be on tonight’s game between the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks. With no Joel Edmundson in the lineup, those pro scouts won’t have as much to pay attention to on the Habs side, though players like Mike Hoffman and Joel Armia could be seen as more long-term options for a team with an extended window. The majority of the attention will be on Patrick Kane who is in the last year of his deal, and defenceman Jake McCabe who is arguably the only member on the Blackhawks’ roster whose season you could grade as good.

Despite their standing as two of the clubs in the running for Connor Bedard at this year’s draft, Montreal and Chicago have been playing well. Both have 5-4-1 records in their past 10 games, finding a bit of energy in the middle portion of the season. It bodes well for another entertaining game, which the Habs have been making a habit of providing in this current stretch.

It hasn’t all been good news for Montreal, however. They’re down another defenceman with Arber Xhekaj sitting out with a shoulder injury, and no timetable for his return. Chris Wideman will be back in the lineup tonight, and a shuffle will take place to move the remaining players around to compensate for Xhekaj’s absence.

Montreal Canadiens projected lineup

Scratched: Rem Pitlick
Injured: Paul Byron, Cole Caufield, Joel Edmundson, Jake Evans, Brendan Gallagher, Kaiden Guhle, Sean Monahan, Juraj Slafkovský, Arber Xhekaj

Chicago Blackhawks projected lineup