Game 42: Montreal Canadiens vs. Edmonton Oilers
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In Canada: CBC (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the Sharks region: NBC Sports California
Streaming: CBC Gem, ESPN+, Sportsnet
As we kick off the second half of the NHL season tonight, Joshua Roy will also begin his NHL career, getting the call to join the team last night.
It’s a tough matchup for his debut as the Canadiens host an Edmonton Oilers team on a nine-game winning streak and with 17 wins in the past 20 games. Edmonton’s top-line duo of Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman has been piling up points for the team despite a dip in power-play production versus last year. Hyman is on pace for a 50-goal season playing with the NHL’s top playmaker.
If the Canadiens don’t want to get embarrassed for a second consecutive game, the defence needs to be much better. With that in mind, Martin St-Louis has recast the dice on the blue line, creating three new pairings and placing Justin Barron in the press box for the game. Kaiden Guhle will play alongside Mike Matheson with the hope that their skill sets can help generate more offensive-zone time, while the reliable Jayden Struble gets paired with David Savard on a duo that will likely be tasked with containing Edmonton’s top line. The pairings will need to develop some quick chemistry to prevent the Oilers’ winning streak from reaching double digits.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #22 Cole Caufield |
#14 Nick Suzuki |
#20 Juraj Slafkovský |
| #49 Rafaël Harvey-Pinard |
#71 Jake Evans |
#11 Brendan Gallagher |
| #89 Joshua Roy |
#91 Sean Monahan |
#40 Joel Armia |
| #55 Michael Pezzetta |
#13 Mitchell Stephens |
#56 Jesse Ylönen |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #8 Mike Matheson |
#21 Kaiden Guhle |
| #47 Jayden Struble |
#58 David Savard |
| $54 Jordan Harris |
#26 Johnny Kovacevic |
| Starter |
Backup |
| #35 Samuel Montembeault |
#34 Jake Allen |
Injured: Josh Anderson, Kirby Dach, Christian Dvorak, Alex Newhook, Tanner Pearson, Chris Wideman
Scratched: Justin Barron, Cayden Primeau
Edmonton Oilers projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| Ryan Nugent-Hopkins |
Connor McDavid |
Zach Hyman |
| Ryan McLeod |
Leon Draisaitl |
Warren Foegele |
| Evander Kane |
Derek Ryan |
Connor Brown |
| Adam Erne |
James Hamblin |
Mattias Janmark |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| Mattias Ekholm |
Evan Bouchard |
| Darnell Nurse |
Cody Ceci |
| Brett Kulak |
Vincent Desharnais |
| Starter |
Backup |
| Stuart Skinner |
Calvin Pickard |
