Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
Game 79: Montreal Canadiens vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Lightning region: The Spot
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
Just before the Olympics we looked at the remaining schedules for the Atlantic Division teams and highlighted just how compressed the final third of the season was going to be for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tonight will be their 14th contest in the past 24 days, and they’ll finish the season without another two-day break. Tampa Bay has a record of 2-3-0 in the past five games going back to their loss on home ice to Montreal, and have failed to score more than two goals in a game on a current four-game road trip.
The Canadiens have managed to find ways to win despite sub-standard performances, and that set up the situation tonight where they can overtake the Lightning in the standings. But just because their opponent may be missing its spark doesn’t mean it’s a team they can take as lightly as they did the New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, and Florida Panthers in their recent outings.
As a potential playoff preview, both teams should be bringing the best effort they can muster to this battle. We saw Montreal find a new level when they met in Florida, and similar will be required to claim a second consecutive win over their divisional rival.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
Left Wing
Centre
Right Wing
#13 Cole Caufield
#14 Nick Suzuki
#20 Juraj Slafkovský
#85 Alexandre Texier
#91 Oliver Kapanen
#93 Ivan Demidov
#15 Alex Newhook
#24 Phillip Danault
#77 Kirby Dach
#90 Joe Veleno
#71 Jake Evans
#17 Josh Anderson
Left Defence
Right Defence
#8 Mike Matheson
#53 Noah Dobson
#47 Jayden Struble
#48 Lane Hutson
#72 Arber Xhekaj
#42 Adam Engström
Starter
Backup
#75 Jakub Dobeš
#32 Jacob Fowler
Injured: Alexandre Carrier
Ill: Joe Veleno
Scratched: Adam Engström, Brendan Gallagher, Patrik Laine, Samuel Montembeault
Tampa Bay Lightning projected lineup
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Centre
Right Wing
Jake Guentzel
Brayden Point
Nikita Kucherov
Gage Goncalves
Anthony Cirelli
Corey Perry
Zemgus Girgensons
Yanni Gourde
Oliver Bjorkstrand
Jakob Pelletier
Nick Paul
Scott Sabourin
Left Defence
Right Defence
J.J. Moser
Darren Raddysh
Ryan McDonagh
Erik Cernak
Charle-Edouard D’Astous
Emil Lilleberg
Starter
Backup
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Jonas Johansson