Game 54: Montreal Canadiens @ Los Angeles Kings
Start time: **10:30 PM EST / 7:30 PM PST**
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Kings region: FanDuel Sports Network West
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
Montreal went to California having to win at least two out of the three games to at least hang around in the wild-card chase, and that mark is still available to them after splitting the first two. They did save the best of the three teams for last however, so this finale isn’t going to be an easy game by any means, especially with the Kings enjoying three full off days since their last match.
The Canadiens got some necessary offence to grow their confidence last night versus the San Jose Sharks, including two on a power play that had been running cold. One member of each of the four lines had a goal in the game, and that’s more like the depth of scoring the Canadiens enjoyed during their hot streak.
You can’t call a win versus the worst team in the league the start of a turnaround. That will only be a talking point if they manage to accomplish something similar versus a Kings team that currently stands as the third seed in the Pacific Division.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #13 Cole Caufield |
#14 Nick Suzuki |
#20 Juraj Slafkovský |
| #92 Patrik Laine |
#71 Jake Evans |
#40 Joel Armia |
| #35 Alex Newhook |
#77 Kirby Dach |
#17 Josh Anderson |
| #62 Owen Beck |
#28 Christian Dvorak |
#11 Brendan Gallagher |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #48 Lane Hutson |
#45 Alexandre Carrier |
| #8 Mike Matheson |
#24 Logan Mailloux |
| #72 Arber Xhekaj |
#58 David Savard |
| Starter |
Backup |
| #75 Jakub Dobeṧ |
#35 Samuel Montembeault |
Scratched: Michael Pezzetta, Jayden Struble
Injured: Kaiden Guhle, Emil Heineman
Los Angeles Kings projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| Alex Turcotte |
Anze Kopitar |
Adrian Kempe |
| Kevin Fiala |
Quinton Byfield |
Alex Laferriere |
| Warren Foegele |
Phillip Danault |
Trevor Moore |
| Tanner Jeannot |
Trevor Lewis |
Akil Thomas |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| Vladislav Gavrikov |
Drew Doughty |
| Joel Edmundson |
Brandt Clarke |
| Jacob Moverare |
Jordan Spence |
| Starter |
Backup |
| Darcy Kuemper |
David Rittich |
