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

Montreal Canadiens @ Tampa Bay Lightning

How to watch

Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In Canada: CityTV, Sportsnet East (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the Lightning region: Bally Sports Sun X
Streaming: ESPN+, Sportsnet Now

As feared, the issue that was bothering Kaiden Guhle throughout the game on Thursday night will keep him out of tonight’s road-trip finale versus the Tampa Bay Lightning. The rookie defenceman is dealing with a lower-body injury, and it looked like the same knee he had injured versus the Florida Panthers back at the end of December.

Not only has that dictated which defencemen will play this game, having to dress the only six players available, but the disciplinary act of scratching Jonathan Drouin from the lineup after he missed a team meeting has had to be rescinded to have 18 skaters in the lineup. That does mean the Habs have a player coming in on a three-game point streak, but Martin St-Louis won’t be happy about having the decision taken out of his hands.

It’s not the goal-scoring that has been the issue for Montreal recently, but rather the inability to prevent their opponent from finding the net. In the last game both Samuel Montembeault and Jake Allen had to be pulled after ineffective stints, unable to bail a defence out that is allowing too many shots from close range.

Despite the pull, Montembeault is back in for a second consecutive start. He actually did quite well in his second stint on Thursday night, keeping the Panthers from hitting 10 goals in the final 33 minutes of play, and that was enough to get the call as the Canadiens hope to limit another quality offensive team.

Montreal Canadiens projected lineup

Scratched:
Injured/Ill: Joel Armia, Paul Byron, Cole Caufield, Kirby Dach, Christian Dvorak, Jake Evans, Brendan Gallagher, Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris, Sean Monahan, Juraj Slafkovský, Arber Xhekaj

Tampa Bay Lightning projected lineup