Pre-season game 1: Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the United States: NHL Network
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
After an exciting off-season, we’re about to see what the Montreal Canadiens look like as the 2025-26 season gets set to begin. That starts tonight as Noah Dobson hits the ice in a competitive environment for the first time in a Canadiens jersey. He’ll be paired with Mike Matheson on the top unit, and the two will likely split any power-play duties in the game.
The Penguins haven’t made much of a splash this off-season at all, and this being a road game to begin the pre-season, none of the star players who were already on the team have made the trip to Montreal. There is no Erik Karlsson or Evgeni Malkin or Sidney Crosby to field questions about playing against his future team. The lineup will have one familiar face to Habs fans as Rafaël Harvey-Pinard will be dressed as a member of his new team.
Considering that Montreal has a top defence pairing and potentially its middle six in action tonight, the Canadiens should see the possession going heavily in their favour, which should lead to goals to get players off on the right foot. But as if often the case in the pre-season, the lesser-known players who make this trip have a lot more to prove in the games than the veterans, so it’s probably not just going to be an easy skate for the Canadiens this evening.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #92 Patrik Laine |
#91 Oliver Kapanen |
#93 Ivan Demidov |
| #17 Josh Anderson |
#71 Jake Evans |
#11 Brendan Gallagher |
| #57 Sean Farrell |
#62 Owen Beck |
#46 Filip Mesar |
| #49 Jared Davidson |
#60 Alex Belzile |
#82 Lucas Condotta |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #8 Mike Matheson |
#53 Noah Dobson |
| #47 Jayden Struble |
#42 Adam Engström |
| #37 Marc Del Gaizo |
#44 Nate Clurman |
| Starter |
Backup |
| #35 Samuel Montembeault |
#32 Jacob Fowler |
Pittsburgh Penguins projection lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| Danton Heinen |
Tommy Novak |
Anthony Mantha |
| Robby Fabbri |
Tristan Broz |
Avery Hayes |
| Rafaël Harvey-Pinard |
Benjamin Kindel |
Samuel Poulin |
| Bokondji Imama |
Atley Calvert |
Valtteri Puustinen |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| Ryan Shea |
Matt Dumba |
| Owen Pickering |
Harrison Brunicke |
| Ryan Graves |
Connor Clifton |
| Starter |
Backup |
| Sergei Murashov |
Joel Blomqvist |
