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

Montreal Canadiens vs. Ottawa Senators

How to watch

Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In Canada: CBC, Sportsnet East, Sportsnet Ontario (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the U.S.: NHL Network
Streaming: ESPN+, Sportsnet Now

Montreal has returned home for just a single game before heading right back onto the road, this time for the annual trip through California. They would like to maintain the momentum they’ve built up over the past couple of weeks to take with them on their flight west, but that will mean doing something they haven’t been able to accomplish all season long: beating the Ottawa Senators.

The Senators are by no means a juggernaut this season, not in a playoff spot and highly unlikely to earn one. But they’ve held off the Canadiens in three previous meetings, using a total of five power-play goals to propel themselves past their division rival.

Staying out of the penalty box is of course the best way to deal with the Senators’ strong special teams. That should be a bit easier to manage if Montreal keeps playing the puck-possession game they have in recent matches, and leave it up to the Senators to commit the infractions while trying everything to win the puck. Montreal didn’t allow the Philadelphia Flyers to get a single man advantage last night, and that type of discipline will be key to prevent Ottawa from sending out its top players in odd-man situations.

Montreal Canadiens projected lineup

Scratched:
Injured/Ill: Joel Armia, Paul Byron, Cole Caufield, Kirby Dach, Joel Edmundson, Jake Evans, Brendan Gallagher, Kaiden Guhle, Sean Monahan, Juraj Slafkovský, Chris Wideman, Arber Xhekaj

Ottawa Senators projected lineup