Game 57: Montreal Canadiens @ Winnipeg Jets
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In Canada: Sportsnet
In the Canadiens regions: RDS (French)
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, Sportsnet+
Jakub Dobeš may have had a six-game winning streak come to an end on Monday night in Winnipeg, but he was still able to extend his personal points streak to 10 games as that match went to overtime. Starting the previous four games for the Canadiens, he will begin his Olympic break a bit early to let Samuel Montembeault take the crease this evening.
Montembeault had been enjoying some success in January as he was eased in versus mostly teams on the outside of the playoff picture, but then wasn’t able to carry that through a couple of key divisional games versus Boston and Buffalo. With one last non-playoff club on the schedule before the Olympics, he gets another chance to gain some confidence before three weeks off.
It’s mostly a one-line team he and his teammates will face tonight in Winnipeg, with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor doing the majority of the work with support from Gabriel Vilardi and defenceman Josh Morrissey further back on the points list. It isn’t like Montreal’s lineup with two lines that can score on any given shift and a bottom six that adds in the odd goal to help lighten the load. The Canadiens average better than half a goal more per game this season as a result of their superior offensive depth, and that should also be the difference for the Habs in this final game before the Olympics.
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 |
| #90 Joe Veleno |
#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 |
| #35 Samuel Montembeault |
#75 Jakub Dobeš |
Scratched: Arber Xhekaj
Injured: Patrik Laine, Alex Newhook, Alexandre Texier
Winnipeg Jets projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| Kyle Connor |
Mark Scheifele |
Alex Iafallo |
| Cole Perfetti |
Adam Lowry |
Gabriel Vilardi |
| Nino Niederreiter |
Jonathan Toews |
Vladislav Namestnikov |
| Cole Koepke |
Morgan Barron |
Gustav Nyquist |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| Josh Morrissey |
Dylan DeMelo |
| Dylan Samberg |
Elias Salomonsson |
| Logan Stanley |
Luke Schenn |
| Starter |
Backup |
| Connor Hellebuyck |
Eric Comrie |
