Game 4: Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Start time: 7:30 PM EDT / 4:30 PM PDT
In the Canadiens region: RDS (French)
Streaming: ESPN+ (USA), Prime Video (CAN)
The games between the Montreal Canadiens and Pittsburgh Penguins could prove to be important ones when it comes time to count the playoff teams. To that end, Martin St-Louis has given Samuel Montembeault a second consecutive start and third one the past six days. The goaltender is off to a hot start with a 2-0 record and .986 save percentage, and might be just what the Canadiens need to counter Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
Montreal’s lineup remains the same as it was in the win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. The team has reassigned Alex Barré-Boulet to the AHL, and with injuries the only other option on the active roster is Michael Pezzetta, who once again occupies a spot in the press box for this game. Oliver Kapanen is playing all situations for the team, and Emil Heineman scored his first NHL goal on Saturday, so there’s no reason to tinker with anything in the bottom six, especially when the opponent is known for its lack of depth.
Cole Caufield enters the game with four goals on the season, and now 12 in the past 12 games he’s played dating back to last year. Lane Hutson has put together consecutive two-assist games, and will be trying to keep that point streak going, and maybe even add the first NHL goal he’s come close to scoring in the past couple of games.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
#13 Cole Caufield |
#14 Nick Suzuki |
#20 Juraj Slafkovský |
#35 Alex Newhook |
#77 Kirby Dach |
#40 Joel Armia |
#17 Josh Anderson |
#71 Jake Evans |
#11 Brendan Gallagher |
#51 Emil Heineman |
#28 Christian Dvorak |
#91 Oliver Kapanen |
Left Defence |
Right Defence |
#8 Mike Matheson |
#21 Kaiden Guhle |
#48 Lane Hutson |
#58 David Savard |
#72 Arber Xhekaj |
#52 Justin Barron |
Starter |
Backup |
#35 Samuel Montembeault |
#30 Cayden Primeau |
Scratched: Michael Pezzetta
Injured: Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, Patrik Laine, Jayden Struble
Pittsburgh Penguins projected lineup
Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
Anthony Beauvillier |
Sidney Crosby |
Bryan Rust |
Michael Bunting |
Evgeni Malkin |
Rickard Rakell |
Drew O’Connor |
Lars Eller |
Jesse Puljujarvi |
Kevin Hayes |
Cody Glass |
Noel Acciari |
Left Defence |
Right Defence |
Matt Grzelcyk |
Kris Letang |
Marcus Pettersson |
Erik Karlsson |
Ryan Shea |
Ryan Graves |
Starter |
Backup |
Tristan Jarry |
Joel Blomqvist |