Canadiens @ Blue Jackets: Game thread and lines
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Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Start time: 7:30 PM EST / 4:30 PM PSTIn Canada: Sportsnet East (English)In the Canadiens region: RDS (French)In the Blue Jackets region: FanDuel Sports Network OhioStreaming: ESPN+, RDS, Sportsnet+
Mike Matheson remains out of the lineup with his lower-body injury, so Montreal’s defence remains the same for the second half of a back-to-back. That means another heavy workload for both Kaiden Guhle and Lane Hutson, but hopefully they won’t have to face as much time on the penalty kill as they did last night at home.
Martin St-Louis’s new lines didn’t really inspire the team to better things versus Utah HC, and you have to wonder if the constant changing of linemates is making it tough for some already struggling players. But what they really need to do is get the puck to the front of the net for shots, and that should be a standard tactic no matter what the combinations are.
Cayden Primeau gets the start after Samuel Montembeault helped take the team to overtime last night. It will be Primeau’s sixth start of the season, and he’s going for just his second win. sporting a 4.59 goals-against average. At least on the opposite side, Elvis Merzlikins is also under a .900 save percentage this season, so it will be up to the skaters to limit what gets through to their goaltenders to decide the game’s outcome.
Scratched: Michael PezzettaConditioning loan: Rafaël Harvey-PinardInjured: Patrik Laine, Mike Matheson
Columbus Blue Jackets projected lineup Left Wing Centre Right Wing Dmitri Voronkov Sean Monahan Kirill Marchenko Yegor Chinakov Adam Fantilli Kent Johnson Zach Aston-Reese Justin Danforth Mathieu Olivier James van Riemsdyk Sean Kuraly Kevin Labanc Left Defence Right Defence Zach Werenski Dante Fabbro Ivan Provorov Damon severson Jake Christiansen Jordan Harris Starter Backup Elvis Merzlikins Daniil Tarasov
