Game 59: 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: MNMT
Streaming: ESPN+, Sportsnet+
The Montreal Canadiens’ lineup has seen a few changes since Thursday’s loss to the New York Islanders. Jakub Dobeš steps back into the crease, looking to at least keep the Canadiens’ point streak alive for a seventh consecutive game while he will try to extend a personal 10-game regulation unbeaten streak. You have to go back to December 9 for the last time he skated off in defeat after 60 minutes had been played.
Zachary Bolduc gets an immediate chance to back up yesterday’s comments that he can bring more to the team. His 10 goals are decent production for a player who just turned 23 a few days ago, but not on pace for what he did last year as a rookie. He says there’s more he can give, and that would be a big help for his club with a tough opponent in town.
On defence the familiar swap of Jayden Struble and Arber Xhekaj has taken place, though you can expect the majority of the minutes to be played by the top two pairings. A full complement of blue-liners isn’t at Spencer Carbery’s disposal as John Carlson is out with an injury he sustained just before the NHL paused for the Olympics. Without their assists leader, the Capitals’ offence won’t be at full strength, and the Canadiens need to take advantage of the situation.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #13 Cole Caufield |
#14 Nick Suzuki |
#77 Kirby Dach |
| #20 Juraj Slafkovský |
#91 Oliver Kapanen |
#93 Ivan Demidov |
| #15 Alex Newhook |
#71 Jake Evans |
#76 Zachary Bolduc |
| #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 |
| #47 Jayden Struble |
#45 Alexandre Carrier |
| Starter |
Backup |
| #75 Jakub Dobeš |
#35 Samuel Montembeault |
Scratched: Alexandre Texier, Joe Veleno, Arber Xhekaj
Injured: Patrik Laine
Washington Capitals projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| Alexander Ovechkin |
Dylan Strome |
Anthony Beauvillier |
| Aliaksei Protas |
Pierre-Luc Dubois |
Tom Wilson |
| Connor McMichael |
Justin Sourdif |
Ryan Leonard |
| Brandon Duhaime |
Nic Dowd |
Ethen Frank |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| Martin Fehervary |
Rasmus Sandin |
| Jakob Chychrun |
Matt Roy |
| Declan Chisholm |
Trevor van Riemsdyk |
| Starter |
Backup |
| Charlie Lindgren |
Logan Thompson |
