Canadiens vs. Stars: Game thread, rosters, lines, and how to watch

After a tumultuous week at home, Montreal will seek greener pastures in a mini two-game road trip, starting with a matchup against the Dallas Stars this evening.

The Canadiens (8-11-2) capped off a six-game home stand with a disappointing 2-3-1 record, including two shutout losses to both the Minnesota Wild last Thursday and this past Saturday by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Along the way, they also helped the lowly Arizona Coyotes obtain their first regulation win, who beat the Habs 5-4 Thursday.

Montreal has been shutout four times this season in 21 games, whereas the entire 2016-17 season saw them shutout six times through 82 games.

Rookie goaltender Charlie Lindgren, who became the new starting goalie after both all-star Carey Price and backup Al Montoya went down with injuries, has started the team’s last seven games. Unfortunately for him, it appears the fatigue is getting to him as he has allowed five goals against in back-to-back games for the first time in his short NHL career. Price, out since November 2, did make the team’s trip to Texas.

Tuesday night also makes the first game of forward Alexander Radulov playing against his former team. The Russian former first-round pick, who accumulated 18 goals and 54 points last season as a Hab, is currently second in scoring, only behind captain Jamie Benn, on the Stars with 19 points.

Tonight is also the return for Canadiens defenceman Jordie Benn to Dallas. Jordie, the older brother of Jamie, spent his first six and a half NHL seasons with the Stars organization.

The Stars (10-9-1) have been having a decent start to the season despite their team record. There is currently a five-way tie between 9th and 13th place in the Western Conference and Dallas is in the middle in 11th.

A major restructuring saw them make some key acquisitions like Radulov, goaltender Ben Bishop and defenceman Marc Methot. They also signed forwards Martin Hanzal and Tyler Pitlick. Both Hanzal (hand) and Methot (knee) are nursing injuries and will not be in the lineup for tonight’s contest.

Captain Benn leads the team in goals (11) and points (21), while Swedish defenceman John Klingberg’s 19 points is the co-lead amongst all NHL blue liners, tied only with Alex Pietrangelo of the St. Louis Blues.

Last season, Montreal beat Dallas in both matchups, first in Texas in January, winning the game 4-3 in overtime on a goal by Pacioretty, his second of the night. Then a couple of months later, the Canadiens took the home game by a score of 4-1 with Pacioretty getting a goal and an assist. Radulov also scored for Montreal in both games against the Stars last season.

Puck drop is at 8:30 PM EST / 5:30 PM PST.

How to watch

In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Stars region: FS-SW
Elsewhere: NHL.tv/NHL GameCentre Live, NHL Center Ice

Montreal Canadiens projected lineup

Forwards

Defence

Goaltenders

Scratched: Byron Froese

Injuries: Ales Hemsky (concussion-like symptoms), David Schlemko (hand), Nikita Scherbak (lower body), Carey Price (lower body), Al Montoya (concussion), Arturri Lekhonen (lower body), Shea Weber (lower body).

Dallas Stars projected lineup

Forwards

Defencemen

Goaltenders