Game 44: Montreal Canadiens @ Dallas Stars
Start time: **8:00 PM EST / 5:00 PM PST**
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Stars region: Victory+
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
Despite not having their best game after a big win in Washington the night before, the Canadiens were able to hold the Dallas Stars to just one goal through regulation on Saturday, and Patrik Laine’s power-play goal was enough to make that count for a point as the Habs fell in the shootout.
Dallas will be without top-line centre Roope Hintz for this game, out with an upper-body. Losing their top goal-scorer will make Dallas’s bid for a season sweep of Montreal that much tougher.
For this game, the only change for Montreal (other than Emil Heineman needing to be replaced by Michael Pezzetta due to injury), is Jakub Dboes coming in to replace Samuel Montembeault in net. It’s always interesting to try to figure out Martin St-Louis’s thought process for these goalie decisions in a busy sequence. It could be that he just wants a new element for the Stars to deal with after winning the last game. Perhaps St-Louis is just looking ahead to the upcoming schedule and doesn’t want Montembeault to play three games in five days leading into a sequence playing the New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Detroit Red Wings, all important games in the playoff chase.. Dobes is showing that he can be trusted with top opponents not just to keep his team in games, but win them as well, putting a three-game winning streak to begin his career on the line this evening.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #13 Cole Caufield |
#14 Nick Suzuki |
#20 Juraj Slafkovský |
| #35 Alex Newhook |
#77 Kirby Dach |
#92 Patrik Laine |
| #55 Michael Pezzetta |
#71 Jake Evans |
#40 Joel Armia |
| #17 Josh Anderson |
#28 Christian Dvorak |
#11 Brendan Gallagher |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #48 Lane Hutson |
#8 Mike Matheson |
| #21 Kaiden Guhle |
#45 Alexandre Carrier |
| #72 Arber Xhekaj |
#58 David Savard |
| Starter |
Backup |
| #75 Jakub Dobeṧ |
#35 Samuel Montembeault |
Scratched: Jayden Struble
Injured: Emil Heineman
Dallas Stars projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| Jason Robertson |
Wyatt Johnston |
Evgenii Dadonov |
| Jamie Benn |
Matt Duchene |
Logan Stankoven |
| Sam Steel |
Mavrik Bourque |
Matej Blumel |
| Justin Hryckowian |
Oskar Back |
Colin Blackwell |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| Miro Heiskanen |
Ilya Lyubushkin |
| Esa Lindell |
Nils Lundkvist |
| Thomas Harley |
Matt Dumba |
| Starter |
Backup |
| Jake Oettinger |
Casey DeSmith |
