After stitching together a three-game road winning streak, the Canadiens returned to the Bell Centre Monday night and fell flat against one of the teams they’ll be competing with for dominance of the Eastern Conference from here until the end of the season.
Tonight, the Canadiens are in Central Division territory where their opponent, the Winnipeg Jets, are four points back of third place in the Division and only one back of a Wildcard spot.
The Jets have been keeping pace in the standings to give themselves hope for a second playoff berth in modern team history, but will be in tough without rookie superstar Patrik Laine in the lineup, sidelined with a concussion for an unknown amount of time. With 21 goals, Laine is responsible for 17.7 percent of his team’s goal production.
With the Canadiens playing tomorrow night in Minnesota, Al Montoya will get the start tonight against the Jets. Montoya has won his last two starts after surrendering losses in his previous three starts.
Tomas Plekanec missed this morning’s practice with the flu and his presence in the lineup tonight will be a game-time decision.
How to Watch
Start time: 7:30 PM EST / 4:30 PM PST
In Canada: Rogers Sportsnet (English), RDS (French)
Everywhere Else/ Online Stream: NHL.tv/GameCentre Live, NHL Centre Ice
Projected Montreal Canadiens Lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Max Pacioretty | Phillip Danault | Alexander Radulov |
| Artturi Lehkonen | Tomas Plekanec | Paul Byron |
| Sven Andrighetto | Torrey Mitchell | Brian Flynn |
| Daniel Carr | Michael McCarron | Chris Terry |
Defence
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| Alexei Emelin | Shea Weber |
| Nathan Beaulieu | Jeff Petry |
| Mark Barberio | Zach Redmond |
Goaltenders
| Goaltenders |
|---|
| Carey Price |
| Al Montoya |
Injured: Tomas Plekanec (flu), Alex Galchenyuk (knee), David Desharnais (knee), Greg Pateryn (fractured ankle), Andrew Shaw (concussion), Andrei Markov (lower-body)
Scratched:
Projected Winnipeg Jets Lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Zach Parise | Eric Staal | Charlie Coyle |
| Jason Zucker | Mikko Koivu | Mikael Granlund |
| Nino Neiderreiter | Erik Haula | Jason Pominville |
| Chris Stewart | Tyler Graovac | Jordan Schroeder |
Defence
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| Ryan Suter | Jared Spurgeon |
| Jonas Brodin | Christian Folin |
| Marco Scandella | Matt Dumba |
Goaltenders
| Goaltenders |
|---|
| Devan Dubnyk |
| Darcy Kuemper |
Injured: Patrik Laine (concussion), Mark Dano (leg), Tyler Myers (lower-body)
