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

Montreal Canadiens vs. Colorado Avalanche

How to watch

Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Avalanche region: ALT
Streaming: ESPN+, NHL Live, RDS Direct, TSN Direct

It’s been some time since hockey fans in Montreal saw the likes of Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar at the Bell Centre. The last time was almost two years ago on December 5, 2019. Many of Colorado’s star players are still with the team, while the Habs now look significantly different.

Montreal will have just three forwards and three defencemen from that previous meeting in the lineup, with the rest no longer with the team, dealing with injuries, or, as Brendan Gallagher now is, in COVID protocol. Gallagher is joined on that list by Sami Niku today, and now we’ll have to wait and hope no more players get added in the coming days.

With the absence of Gallagher, Dominique Ducharme has shifted the lines around out of necessity and not just desperation tonight. Jake Evans will play with Nick Suzuki and Artturi Lehkonen, while Cole Caufield gets bumped down to what you can call the fourth line with Michael Pezzetta, but will benefit from the return of Mathieu Perreault, who had been playing well for the Habs before sustaining an eye injury. That trio might just bring a bit more to the table than one might expect from the final line … provided the olayers see the ice.

Montreal Canadiens projected lineup

Forwards

Defencemen

Goaltenders

Colorado Avalanche projected lineup

Forwards

Defencemen

Goaltenders