The Montréal Canadiens will have to make sure that they are wide awake this time around, as they face the Washington Capitals in the early afternoon on Saturday.
The Canadiens are coming off a brutal performance against the Philadelphia Flyers in a game that they only mustered 16 shots. That kind of performance won’t do against the Capitals; even though Washington has cooled down slightly over the last two weeks, they are still the cream of the crop in the league.
The last time these two teams met it did not go well for the Canadiens. It was another poor effort, as the Capitals outshot them 39-23, winning the game 4-1. All the more reason for the Canadiens to bring their A-game, as they need to prove that they can win against the league’s better teams. They will need to start stringing together some wins if they want to maintain a distance from other teams in the Atlantic Division standings.
We can expect some line shuffling for the Canadiens, as the coaching staff will try to light a spark. There were some changes on the fly during the game against the Flyers, but there was too little time for the players to adjust. The team hopes that whatever line combinations they come up with will pay off immediately, as they cannot afford to start the game poorly.
Puck drop is at 1:00 PM EST / 10:00 AM PST
How to watch
In Canada: Sportsnet (English), RDS (French)
In the United States: CSN-DC
Elsewhere: NHL.tv/NHL Gamecentre Live, NHL Centre Ice
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Max Pacioretty | Jonathan Drouin | Alex Galchenyuk |
| Artturi Lehkonen | Tomas Plekanec | Ales Hemsky |
| Paul Byron | Phillip Danault | Andrew Shaw |
| Charles Hudon | Jacob de la Rose | Brendan Gallagher |
Defencemen
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| Victor Mete | Shea Weber |
| Karl Alzner | Jeff Petry |
| Joe Morrow | Jordie Benn |
Goaltenders
| Goaltenders |
|---|
| Antti Niemi |
| Charlie Lindgren |
Injured: Brendan Gallagher (fractured hand)
Scratched: David Desharnais, Greg Pateryn
Washington Capitals projected lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Evander Kane | Jack Eichel | Jason Pominville |
| Benoit Pouliot | Ryan O’Reilly | Kyle Okposo |
| Zemgus Girgensons | Sam Reinhart | Seth Griffith |
| Johan Larsson | Jacob Josefson | Jordan Nolan |
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| Nathan Beaulieu | Rasmus Ristolainen |
| Marco Scandella | Matt Tennyson |
| Jake McCabe | Viktor Antipin |
| Goaltenders |
|---|
| Robin Lehner |
| Chad Johnson |
