Mar 15, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Florida Panthers defenseman Uvis Balinskis (26) defends against Montreal Canadiens right wing Brendan Gallagher (11) in the third period at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images

Game 44: Montreal Canadiens vs. Florida Panthers

Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Panthers region: Scripps
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+

If you were looking forward to seeing some retribution from the Canadiens for Brad Marchand’s hit on Mike Matheson in their last meeting that forced the Habs defenceman to miss a couple of games, you won’t find any satisfaction tonight as Marchand is out of the lineup. Also out is defenceman Seth Jones, who sustained an injury several days ago and will miss a couple of weeks.

What was already a Panthers lineup considerably weakened by injuries is now nearly unrecognizable with only a handful of the players who won the Stanley Cup a season ago set to play tonight. After Sam Reinhart and his 44 points through 42 games, the Panthers’ next-highest scorers are Sam Bennett and Anton Lundell at 31. It’s a formation not a whole lot different from the one Montreal just played last night when Calgary visited, with the differences being better team play and of course their championship pedigree.

Samuel Montembeault has been tasked with shutting down the offensive players who remain. He has done that well enough over the past couple of years, and can really solidify Montreal’s standing in the Atlantic Division if he can back his team to a fifth win in six games dating back to the first meeting of the season between these two teams.

Montreal Canadiens projected lineup

Left Wing
Centre
Right Wing

#20 Juraj Slafkovský
#91 Oliver Kapanen
#93 Ivan Demidov

#13 Cole Caufield
#14 Nick Suzuki
#85 Alexandre Texier

#76 Zachary Bolduc
#24 Phillip Danault
#11 Brendan Gallagher

#27 Sammy Blais
#90 Joe Veleno
#62 Owen Beck

Left Defence
Right Defence

#8 Mike Matheson
#53 Noah Dobson

#48 Lane Hutson
#45 Alexandre Carrier

#72 Arber Xhekaj
#47 Jayden Struble

Starter
Backup

#35 Samuel Montembeault
#75 Jakub Dobeš

Scratched: Jacob Fowler
Injured: Josh Anderson, Kirby Dach, Jake Evans, Kaiden Guhle, Patrik Laine, Alex Newhook

Florida Panthers projected lineup

Left Wing
Centre
Right Wing

Eetu Luostarinen
Anton Lundell
Sam Reinhart

Carter Verhaeghe
Sam Bennett
A.J. Greer

Jesper Boqvist
Evan Rodrigues
Mackie Samoskevich

Noah Gregor
Luke Kunin
Jack Studnicka

Left Defence
Right Defence

Gustav Forsling
Aaron Ekblad

Niko Mikkola
Uvis Balinskis

Donovan Sebrango
Jeff Petry

Starter
Backup

Sergei Bobrovsky
Daniil Tarasov