Montreal Canadiens vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
How to watch
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In the Canadiens region: TSN2, TSN Direct (English), RDS, RDS Direct (French)
In the US: NBCSN
Streaming: NHL.tv / NHL Live
The Canadiens handily dispatched 2019’s Stanley Cup-winner on Saturday night, and this evening they’ll look to knock off the team that seemed destined for the trophy after an incredible performance in the 2018-19 regular season.
It hasn’t been the start many expected from the club that met a shockingly quick playoff exit in April. Five games into the season there are five teams in the Atlantic Division alone ahead of them in the standings, though this early on it wouldn’t take long to close the gap.
An effort similar to what the Canadiens produced on Saturday will help keep the Lightning’s poor start going. There are no lines to be exploited on Montreal’s roster this year, with competition for all spots rather than last year’s desperate attempts to find a group to represent the bottom trio.
Even with just 13 forwards, the battle to stay in the formation isn’t easy, and on Monday it appeared that Nick Suzuki would have to hand his place to Nick Cousins for tonight’s game. However, at practice today the rookie was back in his right-wing spot, so we’ll have to see what the actual lineup is when warm-ups take place this evening.
There’s also competition on defence, but for now Claude Julien is satisfied with his bottom pairing of Ben Chiarot and Christian Folin. They managed to hold steady versus the St. Louis Blues on the weekend, and now the coach can see how they fare versus one of the top offensive units in the league.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Tomas Tatar | Phillip Danault | Brendan Gallagher |
| Artturi Lehkonen | Max Domi | Jordan Weal |
| Jonathan Drouin | Jesperi Kotkaniemi | Joel Armia |
| Paul Byron | Nate Thompson | Nick Suzuki |
Defencemen
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| Victor Mete | Shea Weber |
| Brett Kulak | Jeff Petry |
| Ben Chiarot | Christian Folin |
Goaltenders
| Goaltenders |
|---|
| Carey Price |
| Keith Kinkaid |
Tampa Bay Lightning projected lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Steven Stamkos | Brayden Point | Nikita Kucherov |
| Ondrej Palat | Tyler Johnson | Yanni Gourde |
| Alex Killorn | Anthony Cirelli | Mathieu Joseph |
| Patrick Maroon | Carter Verhaeghe | Luke Witkowski |
Defencemen
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| Victor Hedman | Erik Cernak |
| Ryan McDonagh | Kevin Shattenkirk |
| Braydon Coburn | Mikhail Sergachev |
Goaltenders
| Goaltenders |
|---|
| Andrei Vasilevskiy |
| Curtis McElhinney |
