Canadiens @ Lightning: Game thread, rosters, lines, and how to watch

Montreal Canadiens @ Tampa Bay Lightning

How to watch

Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In Canada: CityTV, Sportsnet East (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the U.S.: NHL Network
In the Lightning region: Bally Sports Sun
Streaming: ESPN+, NHL Live, Sportsnet Now

In a bid to end his team’s losing streak, Martin St. Louis has loaded up his top line with the three forwards who have been impressing the most over the last month or so, placing Rem Pitlick with the duo of Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.

While it my be the best the Habs can offer, it’s not really on the same level as Tampa Bay’s top trio of established stars Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point, and Nikita Kucherov, but the production in the month of March was about the same for the two groups, with Suzuki leading the six of them with 1.13 points per game.

Since Andrei Vasilevskiy played versus Chicago last night, the Canadiens will face the Lightning’s backup, Brian Elliott. That’s not going to make things any easier for the offence, however, since Elliott’s .916 season save percentage is just a few points lower than Vasilevskiy’s mark of .919.

The focus will be on Jordan Harris on Montreal’s blue line, as he will be making his NHL debut after four seasons with Northeastern University. He’ll have a chance to show off his defensive skills, though for him it will more about learning the pace of the NHL game versus one o the toughest forward groups he’ll ever face.

Montreal Canadiens projected lineup

Forwards

Defencemen

Goaltenders

Tampa Bay Lightning projected lineup

Forwards

Defencemen

Goaltenders