Credit: David Kirouac-USA TODAY Sports
Game 40: Montreal Canadiens vs. Vancouver Canucks
Start time: 7:30 PM EST / 4:30 PM PST
In the Canadiens region: RDS (French)
Streaming: Prime Video (CAN), ESPN+ (USA)
The ailments that Patrik Laine and David Savard were dealing with on the weekend don’t appear to have cleared up in the past two days, or perhaps with a three-day break coming up and the team playing well the decision was just made to hold them out of tonight’s match and give them an extra four days to fully recover. Whatever the reason, the Canadiens will use the same lineup as they had for the games in Chicago and Denver in their return to home ice.
Samuel Montembeault is back in the net after Jakub Dobes got the victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. He and all of his teammates know the stakes tonight: win, and they move into a playoff position as the season approaches its midpoint.
The Vancouver Canucks arrived in Montreal missing Elias Pettersson and having Quinn Hughes questionable for the game. The Canucks don’t have the luxury of resting anyone who has the ability to play, and that may mean Hughes is forced back earlier than he would have liked. It’s therefore not the top form Vancovuer brings to this game, shifting the odds slightly in Montreal’s favour.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| #13 Cole Caufield | #14 Nick Suzuki | #20 Juraj Slafkovský |
| #55 Michael Pezzetta | #77 Kirby Dach | #35 Alex Newhook |
| #51 Emil Heineman | #71 Jake Evans | #40 Joel Armia |
| #17 Josh Anderson | #28 Christian Dvorak | #11 Brendan Gallagher |
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| #48 Lane Hutson | #8 Mike Matheson |
| #21 Kaiden Guhle | #45 Alexandre Carrier |
| #72 Arber Xhekaj | #47 Jayden Struble |
| Starter | Backup |
|---|---|
| #35 Samuel Montembeault | #75 Jakub Dobeṧ |
Injured: David Savard
Ill: Patrik Laine
Vancouver Canucks projected lineup
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Jake DeBrusk | J.T. Miller | Brock Boeser |
| Phil Di Giuseppe | Pius Suter | Conor Garland |
| Danton Heinen | Teddy Blueger | Kiefer Sherwood |
| Nils Hoglander | Max Sasson | Jonathan Lekkerimaki |
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| Quinn Hughes | Tyler Myers |
| Carson Soucy | Noah Juulsen |
| Derek Forbort | Vincent Desharnais |
| Starter | Backup |
|---|---|
| Kevin Lankinen | Arturs Silovs |
