Game 53: Montreal Canadiens vs. Vegas Golden Knights
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Golden Knights region: Scripps
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
The five teams covered by six points that rank third to seventh in the Atlantic Division are all set for 7:00 PM puck drops on a busy Tuesday night. The gap among the group could be even smaller depending on how the results play out.
With that being the situation, there’s now reason for a bit of urgency for the Montreal Canadiens, really for the first time this season given how hot they were to start the campaign to build an early cushion. The Olympic break is approaching, and the trade deadline not long after that, and they need to get back to winning ways with just 30 games left on the schedule.
With five games to play before the Milano Cortina Games, the Canadiens will play one of their last two home games beforehand when the welcome in the Vegas Golden Knights. It’s a team Montreal has already handled this season, and one they currently hold a better record than despite Las Vegas’s place at the top of the Pacific Division.
The key will be on special teams as the Canadiens have begun to outperform opponents at five-on-five. They need Cole Caufield and company to keep the power play running hot, but more importantly require Jakub Dobeš and the skaters in front of him to clamp things down versus the Golden Knights’ elite-level power play. If Montreal wins the special-teams battle, it should win this game and avoid losing any further ground in the playoff race.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| #13 Cole Caufield | #14 Nick Suzuki | #85 Alexandre Texier |
| #20 Juraj Slafkovský | #91 Oliver Kapanen | #93 Ivan Demidov |
| #76 Zachary Bolduc | #71 Jake Evans | #77 Kirby Dach |
| #17 Josh Anderson | #24 Phillip Danault | #11 Brendan Gallagher |
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| #8 Mike Matheson | #53 Noah Dobson |
| #48 Lane Hutson | #45 Alexandre Carrier |
| #21 Kaiden Guhle | #72 Arber Xhekaj |
| Starter | Backup |
|---|---|
| #75 Jakub Dobeš | #35 Samuel Montembeault |
Scratched: Sammy Blais, Jayden Struble, Joe Veleno
Injured: Patrik Laine, Alex Newhook
Vegas Golden Knights projected lineup
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Reilly Smith | Jack Eichel | Mark Stone |
| Pavel Dorofeyev | Mitch Marner | Alexander Holtz |
| Ivan Barbashev | Tomas Hertl | Keegan Kolesar |
| Cole Reinhardt | Tanner Laczynski | Braeden Bowman |
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| Jeremy Lauzon | Shea Theodore |
| Noah Hanifin | Rasmus Andersson |
| Ben Hutton | Kaedan Korczak |
| Starter | Backup |
|---|---|
| Adin Hill | Akira Schmid |
