Game 27: Montreal Canadiens vs. Washington Capitals
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In Canada: CityTV, Sportsnet East (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the Capitals region: Monumental Sports Network 2
Streaming: ESPN+, Sportsnet+
The Canadiens have burst out of the gates in the last two games they’ve played, but then seen their play fall off in the second period, forcing them to hang on and rely on goaltending to save the day. That approach isn’t going to work against the Washington Capitals tonight.
Montreal has been enjoying the depth they now have with Patrik Laine in the lineup to keep the pressure on for the opening 20 minutes. Tonight’s opponent is one of the deepest formations in the league, at forward, defence, and goaltending, so that’s not going to be the advantage it was versus the likes of the New York Islanders and Nashville Predators. Nothing short of a 60-minute effort is going to keep this game close against one of the league’s powerhouses.
When these teams met for the first time on Halloween, it was Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas who scored two quick goals in the third period to break a 3-3 tie and allow the Capitals to come away with a comfortable 6-3 win. Those players have only continued their excellent play from there, and are just two of several dangerous attackers who will test the home team’s defensive play. Kaiden Guhle has returned after missing Thursday’s game with an illness, which will be a major help in that challenge.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #13 Cole Caufield |
#14 Nick Suzuki |
#35 Alex Newhook |
| #20 Juraj Slafkovský |
#77 Kirby Dach |
#92 Patrik Laine |
| #17 Josh Anderson |
#28 Christian Dvorak |
#11 Brendan Gallagher |
| #51 Emil Heineman |
#71 Jake Evans |
#40 Joel Armia |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #48 Lane Hutson |
#8 Mike Matheson |
| #47 Jayden Struble |
#21 Kaiden Guhle |
| #72 Arber Xhekaj |
#58 David Savard |
| Starter |
Backup |
| #35 Samuel Montembeault |
#30 Cayden Primeau |
Scratched: Justin Barron, Michael Pezzetta
Washington Capitals projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| Aliaksei Protas |
Dylan Strome |
Tom Wilson |
| Connor McMichael |
Pierre-Luc dubois |
Taylor Raddysh |
| Hendrix Lapierre |
Lars Eller |
Andrew Mangiapane |
| Brandon Duhaime |
Nic Dowd |
Ivan Miroshnichenko |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| Martin Fehervary |
John Carlson |
| Rasmus Sandin |
Matt Roy |
| Jakob Chychrun |
Trevor van Riemsdyk |
| Starter |
Backup |
| Logan Thompson |
Charlie Lindgren |
