The Montreal Canadiens are on a roll as of late, and they hope they can continue their dominant play and extend their season-high winning streak to four games with a rematch against the Minnesota Wild this evening at the Bell Centre.
This is the second matchup in a week between these two teams with Minnesota taking last week’s game, doubling up on the Habs 6-3. Forwards Matt Cullen, Mikko Koivu and Mikael Granlund, as well as defenceman Matt Dumba each had multi-point games, while Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher chipped in with two goals in a losing effort.
Since that game last Thursday in St. Paul, Montreal has won all their contests, beating Winnipeg, Chicago and Vegas in the process. Captain Max Pacioretty scored two of the game-winning goals, and rookie goaltender Charlie Lindgren has helped backstop the team with back-to-back wins, and a 5-0-0 record to start his NHL career.
For Minnesota, it seems as though they’ve gone te opposite way, having lost their last three straight since their game versus Montreal, dropping decisions against Original Six teams in Chicago, Boston, and Toronto.
Despite a two-goal performance by Wild forward Jason Zucker, it wasn’t enough last night as they fell to an Auston Matthews-less Maple Leafs team 4-2.
Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin, who left Tuesday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights after the second period, will be a game-time decision. Forward Andrew Shaw who also left Tuesday’s game was at the morning skate, and is expected to play.
Puck drop is at 7:30 PM EST / 4:30 PM PST
How to watch
In the Canadiens region: TSN2, TSNGO (English), RDS (French)
In the Wild region: FS-N
Elsewhere: NHL.tv/NHL GameCentre Live, NHL Center Ice
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Max Pacioretty | Phillip Danault | Andrew Shaw |
| Alex Galchenyuk | Torrey Mitchell | Artturi Lehkonen |
| Paul Byron | Tomas Plekanec | Brendan Gallagher |
| Charles Hudon | Byron Froese | Jacob de la Rose |
Defencemen
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| Victor Mete | Jeff Petry |
| Karl Alzner | Jordie Benn |
| Brandon Davidson | Joe Morrow |
Goaltenders
| Goaltenders |
|---|
| Charlie Lindgren |
| Al Montoya |
Injured: Jonathan Drouin (upper body), Ales Hemsky (concussion-like symptoms), Carey Price (lower body injury), David Schlemko (hand), Nikita Scherbak (lower body), Shea Weber (lower body).
Minnesota Wild projected lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Jason Zucker | Eric Staal | Chris Stewart |
| Nino Niederreiter | Mikko Koivu | Mikael Granlund |
| Daniel Winnik | Joel Eriksson Ek | Luke Kunin |
| Marcus Foligno | Matt Cullen | Tyler Ennis |
Defencemen
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| Ryan Suter | Jared Spurgeon |
| Jonas Brodin | Matt Dumba |
| Kyle Quincey | Gustav Olofsson |
Goaltenders
| Goaltenders |
|---|
| Devan Dubnyk |
| Niklas Svedberg |
