Game 26: Montreal Canadiens vs. Los Angeles Kings
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Kings region: Bally Sports West
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
Down 3-0 in the third period versus the Columbus Blue Jackets two nights ago, Drew Doughty capped off a comeback for the Los Angeles Kings that kept their perfect road record to begin the season intact. With that result setting the tone for their current trip, the Kings have rolled into Montreal for their second of four stops.
Right now, it doesn’t matter where the Kings are playing, the wins are piling up. Their only loss in the last eight matches has been at home to the Washington Capitals, when former Canadiens goaltender Charlie Lindgren stopped 38 of 39 shots. It was also the only time in the last seven contests they didn’t score at least four times.
Montreal can’t expect their netminder to put in the same performance, even if the decision has been made to play their best option in Samuel Montembeault. The Habs need to score goals of their own, which means breaking through the trap that the Kings played to perfection the first time. That requires some individual play to beat neutral-zone forecheckers and conservative defencemen, like what we saw from Juraj Slafkovský as he forced his way through two defencemen in the last game, and more creative passes. At least with the most trusted netminder behind them, the Habs should be willing to take such risks in search of some quality scoring chances.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #22 Cole Caufield |
#14 Nick Suzuki |
#20 Juraj Slafkovský |
| #70 Tanner Pearson |
#28 Christian Dvorak |
#11 Brendan Gallagher |
| #91 Sean Monahan |
#71 Jake Evans |
#17 Josh Anderson |
| #55 Michael Pezzetta |
#13 Mitchell Stephens |
#56 Jesse Ylönen |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #8 Mike Matheson |
#27 Gustav Lindström |
| #21 Kaiden Guhle |
#52 Justin Barron |
| #47 Jayden Struble |
#26 Johnny Kovacevic |
| Starter |
Backup |
| #35 Samuel Montembeault |
#34 Jake Allen |
Injured: Joel Armia, Kirby Dach, Jordan Harris, Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, Alex Newhook, David Savard, Chris Wideman
Scratched: Mattias Norlinder, Cayden Primeau
Los Angeles Kings projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| Quinton Byfield |
Anze Kopitar |
Adrian Kempe |
| Kevin Fiala |
Phillip Danault |
Trevor Moore |
| Carl Grundstrom |
Pierre-Luc Dubois |
Alex Laferriere |
| Jaret Anderson-Dolan |
Trevor Lewis |
Arthur Kaliyev |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| Mikey Anderson |
Drew Doughty |
| Vladislav Gavrikov |
Matt Roy |
| Andreas Englund |
Jordan Spence |
| Starter |
Backup |
| Cam Talbot |
Pheonix Copley |
