Canadiens vs. Flames: Game thread, rosters, lines, and how to watch

Montreal Canadiens vs. Calgary Flames

How to watch

Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In Canada: Sportsnet (English)
In the Canadiens region: RDS (French)

We’ll know after a few shifts whether the Canadiens have finally learned the lesson about their slow starts. They’ve forced Jake Allen to do some incredible things over the past couple of weeks, and usually lost two points when he alone couldn’t bail them out. They need to show a bit more urgency from the opening faceoff to save themselves from working out of an early deficit the rest of the night.

Since the top line has been reformed after a brief time apart on Saturday, the Canadiens’ success versus the Calgary Flames may ultimately come down to how the rest of the lines perform. Jake Evans will play between Juraj Slafkovský and Josh Anderson tonight, and they all have the ability to generate some offence, even if it has remained dormant for much of this season. Could that trio be the one to contribute a goal or two to the cause?

Perhaps it will be a bit more offence from the back end that complements whatever the top line is able to produce. Arber Xhekaj continues to show his prowess to simply get pucks on net, which seems like a simple skill, but it’s one that few of his peers possess. Kaiden Guhle has been activating quite a bit on offence to get in deep to help his team out, and that could occupy the Flames’ defencemen long enough to open a lane to a forward, or end in a second goal of the season for himself.  Either of these options would be welcome for a team that has playing too much in its own zone in recent games.

Montreal Canadiens projected lineup

Forwards

Defencemen

Goaltenders

Scratched: –
Injured: Paul Byron, Jonathan Drouin, Brendan Gallagher, Mike Matheson, Sean Monahan, David Savard

Calgary Flames projected lineup

Forwards

Defencemen

Goaltenders