Game 54: Montreal Canadiens vs. Colorado Avalanche
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Avalanche region: Altitude
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
The Canadiens conclude the first two-thirds of the 2025-26 season with a measuring stick game against the Colorado Avalanche. The Avs are dealing with a few injuries and are not at the same level they were through the opening half of the year, but even without Gabriel Landeskog and Devon Toews they’re sitting comfortably in top spot in the NHL.
Holding the league’s more potent offence at almost four goals per game, they’re having trouble hitting that total at the moment, only doing so twice in the past seven games, and those have been their only wins in that time. It doesn’t help them that they have a shockingly poor power play operating at 15.9% this season, and it hasn’t scored in the past four games. Last night in Ottawa, they didn’t even earn a single power play, the first time that has happened this season. Considering how much trouble Montreal’s penalty kill has had lately, that’s good news if that trend continues.
Nathan MacKinnon is in a bit of a funk, only scoring in two of the last 11 games he’s played. Meanwhile in Montreal, Cole Caufield is on a six-game goal-scoring streak, netting nine goals in that time to reach 30 on the season. The Canadiens are playing better hockey at the moment than the current league leader, and could just ride that to a big upset on home ice.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #13 Cole Caufield |
#14 Nick Suzuki |
#85 Alexandre Texier |
| #20 Juraj Slafkovský |
#91 Oliver Kapanen |
#93 Ivan Demidov |
| #76 Zachary Bolduc |
#71 Jake Evans |
#77 Kirby Dach |
| #17 Josh Anderson |
#24 Phillip Danault |
#11 Brendan Gallagher |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #8 Mike Matheson |
#21 Kaiden Guhle |
| #48 Lane Hutson |
#53 Noah Dobson |
| #72 Arber Xhekaj |
#45 Alexandre Carrier |
| Starter |
Backup |
| #75 Jakub Dobeš |
#35 Samuel Montembeault |
Scratched: Sammy Blais, Jayden Struble, Joe Veleno
Injured: Patrik Laine, Alex Newhook
Colorado Avalanche projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| Artturi Lehkonen |
Nathan MacKinnon |
Martin Necas |
| Ross Colton |
Brock Nelson |
Valeri Nichushkin |
| Victor Olofsson |
Jack Drury |
Gavin Brindley |
| Zakhar Bardakov |
Parker Kelly |
Joel Kiviranta |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| Sam Malinski |
Cale Makar |
| Josh Manson |
Brent Burns |
| Samuel Girard |
Keaton Middleton |
| Starter |
Backup |
| Scott Wedgewood |
Mackenzie Blackwood |
