Coming off a hard loss to the Sharks last night, the Habs travel to Washington, in the second of back to back games.
The Habs started off flat footed and seemingly uninterested last night, but played well once they put their foot on the gas. Originally, the plan was to have Al Montoya start in Washington, but instead it will be Carey Price between the pipes. After being pulled, which is a rare sight all together, he should be ready to come back with a big performance tonight.
Sven Andrighetto did not travel with the team following last night’s game, and Chris Terry was called up in his absence. All eyes right now are on Brendan Gallagher, as he’s currently on an 8 game goal scoring drought, and the Canadiens need him to start contributing, especially against a strong team like the Capitals.
Washington is also playing its second game in as many nights, as they pulled off a 4-3 shootout win in Carolina. They are red hot right now, having won their past 6 games. Braden Holtby gets the start tonight, and he’s been very good for the Caps this year, sporting a 14-6-0 record, 2.08 GAA and .925 save percentage. Nick Backstrom leads the Caps this year with 26 points in 29 games played, and super sniper Alex Ovechkin has 14 goals on the year so far.
How To Watch
Puck drop: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In Canada: City (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the United States: NHLN-US, CSN-DC
Elsewhere: NHL.tv/NHL Gamecenter Live, NHL Center Ice
Projected Montreal Canadiens Lineup
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Max Pacioretty | Phillip Danault | Alexander Radulov |
| Paul Byron | Torrey Mitchell | Brendan Gallagher |
| Artturi Lehkonen | Tomas Plekanec | Brian Flynn |
| Daniel Carr | Michael McCarron | Chris Terry |
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| Alexei Emelin | Shea Weber |
| Andrei Markov | Jeff Petry |
| Mark Barberio | Nathan Beaulieu |
| Goalies |
|---|
| Carey Price |
| Al Montoya |
Injured: Alex Galchenyuk (knee), David Desharnais (knee), Greg Pateryn (fractured ankle), Andrew Shaw (concussion), Sven Andrighetto (upper body)
Scratched: Zach Redmond
Projected Washington Capitals Lineup
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Alex Ovechkin | Evgeny Kuznetsov | Justin Williams |
| Marcus Johansson | Nicklas Backstrom | T.J. Oshie |
| Brett Connolly | Lars Eller | Jakub Vrana |
| Daniel Winnik | Jay Beagle | Tom Wilson |
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| Karl Alzner | John Carlson |
| Dmitri Orlov | Matt Niskanen |
| Brooks Orpik | Nate Schmidt |
| Goalies |
|---|
| Braden Holtby |
| Philipp Grubauer |
Scratched: Andre Burakovsky, Zach Sanford, Taylor Chorney
