Game 17: Montreal Canadiens vs. Dallas Stars
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Stars region: Victory+
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
There wasn’t much to be happy about in Tuesday’s game versus the Los Angeles Kings, a 5-1 loss that stands as the most lop-sided defeat of the season for Montreal. But there was one positive, and that was the play of the fourth line versus a team that was able to contain the Canadiens’ attack. The one goal that was scored came off the stick of Josh Anderson, and his trio with Jake Evans and Joe Veleno put in arguably the best performance we’ve seen from the line. Add in Jake Evans’s goal two games prior, and perhaps there are signs that they are starting to come together, joining the other lines in helping out on offence.
Despite how poorly Tuesday’s game went, Montreal still ranks in the top five in offence while their opponent, a Dallas Stars team with plenty of players befitting that nickname, has just as many one-goal games as four-goal outings since tearing out of the gate in the opening week of the season.
Further handing the advantage in this game to Montreal is the goaltending duel. Jakub Dobeš gets back in the net for the first time since a shootout loss on November 6. Dallas has decided to run Casey DeSmith in this game, so it’s a sub-.900 backup goaltender the Habs will face as they try to get back in the win column.
Nick Suzuki participated in an optional morning skate today, which suggests he will be able to go after some concerns yesterday that he was struggling with a lower-body injury. He has been held pointless in two of the three games since his 12-game run of hitting the scoresheet came to an end, but he has contributed 14 points in 10 games versus Dallas in his career, including seven in the past four meetings, and was held to zero just a single time back in 2022.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| #13 Cole Caufield | #14 Nick Suzuki | #20 Juraj Slafkovský |
| #15 Alex Newhook | #91 Oliver Kapanen | #93 Ivan Demidov |
| #76 Zachary Bolduc | #77 Kirby Dach | #11 Brendan Gallagher |
| #17 Josh Anderson | #71 Jake Evans | #90 Joe Veleno |
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| #8 Mike Matheson | #53 Noah Dobson |
| #47 Jayden Struble | #48 Lane Hutson |
| #72 Arber Xhekaj | #45 Alexandre Carrier |
| Starter | Backup |
|---|---|
| #75 Jakub Dobeš | #35 Samuel Montembeault |
Injured: Kaiden Guhle, Patrik Laine
Dallas Stars projected lineup
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Sam Steel | Wyatt Johnston | Mikko Rantanen |
| Jason Robertson | Roope Hintz | Tyler Seguin |
| Oskar Back | Justin Hryckowian | Mavrik Bourque |
| Colin Blackwell | Radek Faksa | Nathan Bastian |
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| Esa Lindell | Miro Heiskanen |
| Thomas Harley | Ilya Lyubushkin |
| Lian Bichsel | Alex Petrovic |
| Starter | Backup |
|---|---|
| Casey DeSmith | Jake Oettinger |
