Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
Pre-season game 1: Montreal Canadiens vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the United States: NHL Network
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
After an exciting off-season, we’re about to see what the Montreal Canadiens look like as the 2025-26 season gets set to begin. That starts tonight as Noah Dobson hits the ice in a competitive environment for the first time in a Canadiens jersey. He’ll be paired with Mike Matheson on the top unit, and the two will likely split any power-play duties in the game.
The Penguins haven’t made much of a splash this off-season at all, and this being a road game to begin the pre-season, none of the star players who were already on the team have made the trip to Montreal. There is no Erik Karlsson or Evgeni Malkin or Sidney Crosby to field questions about playing against his future team. The lineup will have one familiar face to Habs fans as Rafaël Harvey-Pinard will be dressed as a member of his new team.
Considering that Montreal has a top defence pairing and potentially its middle six in action tonight, the Canadiens should see the possession going heavily in their favour, which should lead to goals to get players off on the right foot. But as if often the case in the pre-season, the lesser-known players who make this trip have a lot more to prove in the games than the veterans, so it’s probably not just going to be an easy skate for the Canadiens this evening.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
Left Wing
Centre
Right Wing
#92 Patrik Laine
#91 Oliver Kapanen
#93 Ivan Demidov
#17 Josh Anderson
#71 Jake Evans
#11 Brendan Gallagher
#57 Sean Farrell
#62 Owen Beck
#46 Filip Mesar
#49 Jared Davidson
#60 Alex Belzile
#82 Lucas Condotta
Left Defence
Right Defence
#8 Mike Matheson
#53 Noah Dobson
#47 Jayden Struble
#42 Adam Engström
#37 Marc Del Gaizo
#44 Nate Clurman
Starter
Backup
#35 Samuel Montembeault
#32 Jacob Fowler
Pittsburgh Penguins projection lineup
Left Wing
Centre
Right Wing
Danton Heinen
Tommy Novak
Anthony Mantha
Robby Fabbri
Tristan Broz
Avery Hayes
Rafaël Harvey-Pinard
Benjamin Kindel
Samuel Poulin
Bokondji Imama
Atley Calvert
Valtteri Puustinen
Left Defence
Right Defence
Ryan Shea
Matt Dumba
Owen Pickering
Harrison Brunicke
Ryan Graves
Connor Clifton
Starter
Backup
Sergei Murashov
Joel Blomqvist