Canadiens vs. Stars: Game thread, rosters, lines and how to watch
The Habs come home hoping to end a five game losing streak
The Montreal Canadiens had a very good third period against the Columbus Blue Jackets but couldn’t get anything on the scoreboard and now head back home and host the Dallas Stars.
The Canadiens will be turning to Antti Niemi after Lindgren started last night. They are also making one change up front with Byron Froese replacing Daniel Carr, which means that Phillip Danault and Rinat Valiev will miss another game.
Montreal have lost five straight games and have seemingly rotated between solid efforts and disappointing ones on their recent road trip. Brendan Gallagher remains a competitor every night and yesterday he scored his career-high 25th goal of the season on a beautiful deflection.
For Dallas, a pair of familiar faces return to Montreal in Alexander Radulov and Greg Pateryn. Radulov was a crowd favourite last year but chose Dallas as a free agent. He lines up on their top line with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. Radulov has 25 goals and 35 assists for 60 points which ties him with Benn, five points behind Seguin for the team lead.
Pateryn, for his part, was traded for Jordie Benn just before last year’s trade deadline. He has played 60 of Dallas’s 69 games this season and has one goal and nine assists this year.
Defensively, the Stars are led by John Klingberg who has seven goals and 50 assists to lead all NHL defencemen in scoring.
Kari Lehtonen will get the start for the Stars tonight, and it will be his 21st game of the season. Lehtonen actually has better numbers this season than Ben Bishop, who is currently out with a knee injury but in less playing time.
The Stars are holding on to the top Wild Card in the Western Conference, two points clear of the Colorado Avalanche and Anaheim Ducks who are tied for the second Wild Card and three up on the St. Louis Blues.
Puck drop is at 7:30 PM EST/ 4:30 PM PST
How to watch
In the Canadiens region: TSN2, TSN GO (English), RDS (French)
In the Stars region: Fox Sports Southwest
Elsewhere: NHL.tv/NHL GameCentre Live, NHL Center Ice
Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Paul Byron | Jonathan Drouin | Brendan Gallagher |
| Alex Galchenyuk | Jacob de la Rose | Artturi Lehkonen |
| Daniel Carr | Logan Shaw | Kerby Rychel |
| Nicolas Deslauriers | Michael McCarron | Byron Froese |
Defence
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| Jordie Benn | Jeff Petry |
| Karl Alzner | Noah Juulsen |
| Mike Reilly | Brett Lernout |
Goaltenders
| Goaltenders |
|---|
| Antti Niemi |
| Charlie Lindgren |
Dallas Stars projected lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Jake Guentzel | Sidney Crosby | Conor Sheary |
| Carl Hagelin | Evgeni Malkin | Patric Hornqvist |
| Riley Sheahan | Derick Brassard | Phil Kessel |
| Tom Kuhnackl | Carter Rowney | Bryan Rust |
Defence
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| Brian Dumoulin | Kris Letang |
| Jamie Oleksiak | Justin Schultz |
| Olli Maatta | Chad Ruhwedel |
Goaltenders
| Goaltenders |
|---|
| Tristan Jerry |
| Casey DeSmith |