Game 51: Montreal Canadiens vs. Dallas Stars
Start time: **1:00 PM EST / 10:00 AM PST***
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Stars region: Bally Sports Southwest X
Streaming: ESPN+, TSN+, RDS
The annual tradition of back-to-back matinées on Super Bowl weekend continues for the Montreal Canadiens, starting this afternoon with a meeting with the Dallas Stars and concluding tomorrow with the St. Louis Blues visiting the Bell Centre.
The biggest news for today’s game is the return of Alex Newhook from a high-ankle sprain. Expect to see him on the top power-play unit, but the head coach will have to monitor his play to see how he’s faring in his first game back after such a serious injury. Minutes should be limited for most forwards anyway with another game tomorrow to be mindful of.
Samuel Montembeault gets the start in goal as the team has been turning to him as much as possible in recent weeks. He has posted at least a .930 save percentage in six of his last 10 starts, which may be required today to contain a powerful Stars offence.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #22 Cole Caufield |
#14 Nick Suzuki |
#20 Juraj Slafkovský |
| #49 Rafaël Harvey-Pinard |
#35 Alex Newhook |
#40 Joel Armia |
| #70 Tanner Pearson |
#71 Jake Evans |
#17 Josh Anderson |
| #55 Michael Pezzetta |
#74 Brandon Gignac |
#56 Jesse Ylönen |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #8 Mike Matheson |
#21 Kaiden Guhle |
| #47 Jayden Struble |
#58 David Savard |
| #72 Arber Xhekaj |
#26 Johnny Kovacevic |
| Starter |
Backup |
| #35 Samuel Montembeault |
#30 Cayden Primeau |
Injured: Kirby Dach, Christian Dvorak, Chris Wideman
Suspended: Brendan Gallagher
Scratched: Jake Allen, Jordan Harris
Dallas Stars projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| Jason Robertson |
Roope Hintz |
Wyatt Johnston |
| Mason Marchment |
Matt Duchene |
Tyler Seguin |
| Jamie Benn |
Sam Steel |
Joe Pavelski |
| Ty Dellandrea |
Radek Faksa |
Evgenii Dadonov |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| Thomas Harley |
Miro Heiskanen |
| Esa Lindell |
Jani Hakanpaa |
| Ryan Suter |
Joel Hanley |
| Starter |
Backup |
| Jake Oettinger |
Scott Wedgewood |
