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

Game 70: Montreal Canadiens @ St. Louis Blues

Start time: **8:00 PM EDT / 5:00 PM PDT**
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Blues region: Victory+
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+

The Montreal Canadiens and St. Louis Blues seem to be the teams that want to rise from the lower ranks to a playoff spot in their respective conferences more that their rivals. They’ve put together the two best records since the 4 Nations break ended and the final third of the NHL season began. St. Louis is doing it with an established winner behind the bench, while the Canadiens have a bench boss who is developing along with his team as they all hope to enjoy such consistency for years to come.

Montreal played the Blues at the Bell Centre early in the season when St. Louis was under a different coach and not playing at nearly the level they are now. The result tonight probably won’t be a repeat of the 5-2 decision in Montreal’s favour on October 26. What the Canadiens should expect is something more like what they experienced when playing the Bruins in the last couple of seasons as Jim Montgomery has taken his style to the new team, one that has quite a bit of talent on offer.

Goals can come from anywhere in the Blues lineup, and the forwards are getting major support from defencemen Cam Fowler and Justin Faulk during this league-best run. Montreal has also started to get some needed help from players other than the top-liners, scoring at least four goals in nine of the 13 games since the 4 Nations, so they have the ability to go note-for-note with their opponent this evening. It may all come down to which Team Canada goaltender, Jordan Binnington or Samuel Montembeault, can steal the most goals away from the high-powered offence they’ll be facing.

Montreal Canadiens projected lineup

Scratched: Michael Pezzetta
Injured: Kirby Dach, Kaiden Guhle

St. Louis Blues projected lineup