Game 3: Montreal Canadiens @ Chicago Blackhawks
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In Canada: CityTV, Sportsnet East (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the Blackhawks region: CHSN
Streaming: ESPN+, Sportsnet+
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The Montreal Canadiens’ tour of Original Six cities concludes with a game in Chicago on Saturday. The Canadiens have gone 1-1 on the trip so far, and would love to go back to Montreal for their own home-opener with a winning record.
It was against the Blackhawks that Ivan Demidov made his NHL debut at the end of last year, and he had both his first goal and first assist before the first period was done. It was a clear announcement that he was ready to play in the NHL, and the team has built up the roster since then knowing they had another top offensive player in place.
One of those additions, Zachary Bolduc, will be looking to keep his goal-scoring streak alive after finding the net in each of his first two games. He’s looked exactly like the player he was with the St. Louis Blues to end last season in his first week of competitive action in Montreal, and he’s a big reason why the Canadiens now have finishing ability on each of their four lines.
Such depth is going to be very tough for the Blackhawks to deal with. We saw in Detroit how quickly the Canadiens can turn the play on its head with a quick counter-attack from just about any forward duo. There will be a chance for another big offensive game from Montreal, and even a solid group of young talent in Chicago may have a tough time matching that offensive tempo.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| #13 Cole Caufield | #14 Nick Suzuki | #20 Juraj Slafkovský |
| #15 Alex Newhook | #91 Oliver Kapanen | #93 Ivan Demidov |
| #76 Zachary Bolduc | #77 Kirby Dach | #11 Brendan Gallagher |
| #92 Patrik Laine | #71 Jake Evans | #17 Josh Anderson |
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| #21 Kaiden Guhle | #48 Lane Hutson |
| #8 Mike Matheson | #53 Noah Dobson |
| #72 Arber Xhekaj | #45 Alexandre Carrier |
| Starter | Backup |
|---|---|
| #35 Samuel Montembeault | #75 Jakub Dobeṧ |
Scratched: Jayden Struble, Joe Veleno
Chicago Blackhawks projected lineup
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Colton Dach | Connor Bedard | Andre Burakovsky |
| Teuvo Teravainen | Frank Nazar | Tyler Bertuzzi |
| Ryan Donato | Ryan Greene | Ilya Mikheyev |
| Nick Foligno | Lukas Reichel | Sam Lafferty |
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| Alex Vlasic | Sam Rinzel |
| Wyatt Kaiser | Louis Crevier |
| Matt Grzelcyk | Connor Murphy |
| Starter | Backup |
|---|---|
| Spencer Knight | Arvid Soderblom |
