Montreal Canadiens @ New Jersey Devils
How to watch
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Devils region: MSGSN
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS Direct, TSN+
After a good run following 10 days off, the Canadiens have now lost a couple of games in a row. A lineup cobbled together from a few regulars and several players who would normally be developing in the AHL has fought valiantly against some good teams, but ultimately the depth of the opposing roster has won the day.
The New Jersey Devils may be the most complete team the Habs have matched up against since the All-Star break, getting quality performances from all forwards, defencemen, and new starting goalie Vitek Vanecek. There’s a good reason why they’re tied for second in the Eastern Conference with 37 wins.
Martin St-Louis has no personnel to choose from to put together a lineup to counter such a strong opponent. He’s shuffled a few lines, placing Jonathan Drouin at centre for this game, though that may be just as much a request from the top for a showcase than a tactical move. Drouin has been playing well over the past month, and if a team is curious about what he could provide in a playoff series, matching up against any of four good Devils lines might offer a good indication.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #49 Rafaël Harvey-Pinard |
#14 Nick Suzuki |
#17 Josh Anderson |
| #68 Mike Hoffman |
#27 Jonathan Drouin |
#40 Joel Armia |
| #63 Evgenii Dadonov |
#28 Christian Dvorak |
#32 Rem Pitlick |
| #55 Michael Pezzetta |
#60 Alex Belzile |
#56 Jesse Ylönen |
Defencemen
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #8 Mike Matheson |
#52 Justin Barron |
| $54 Jordan Harris |
#26 Johnny Kovacevic |
| #64 Corey Schueneman |
#58 David Savard |
Goaltenders
| Starter |
Backup |
| #35 Samuel Montembeault |
#34 Jake Allen |
Scratched:
Injured/Ill: Paul Byron, Cole Caufield, Kirby Dach, Joel Edmundson, Jake Evans, Brendan Gallagher, Kaiden Guhle, Sean Monahan, Juraj Slafkovský, Chris Wideman, Arber Xhekaj
New Jersey Devils projected lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| Tomas Tatar |
Nico Hischier |
Dawson Mercer |
| Yegor Sharangovich |
Jack Hughes |
Jesper Bratt |
| Ondrej Palat |
Erik Haula |
Fabian Zetterlund |
| Miles Wood |
Michael McLeod |
Jesper Boqvist |
Defencemen
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| Brendan Smith |
Dougie Hamilton |
| Ryan Graves |
Damon Severson |
| Jonas Siegenthaler |
Kevin Bahl |
Goaltenders
| Starter |
Backup |
| Vitek Vanecek |
Akira Schmid |
