{"id":208045,"date":"2026-03-06T22:55:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T22:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/208045\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T22:55:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T22:55:08","slug":"montembeault-starts-new-forward-lines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/208045\/","title":{"rendered":"Montembeault Starts, New Forward Lines"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Montreal Canadiens<\/a> (33-18-9) are set to face the Anaheim Ducks (34-23-3), with the puck drop scheduled for 9 pm ET.<\/p>\n

The Habs will look to bounce back after a frustrating performance on Tuesday, versus another Californian club, the San Jose Sharks. The good news is that the Canadiens managed to find the back of the net on five occasions, but it was overshadowed by their usual chaotic defensive setup, not to mention some questionable netminding, resulting in a 7-5 loss.<\/p>\n

If the Canadiens hope to qualify for the playoffs without having to run their horses into the ground, as was the case last season, they\u2019ll need every player on the ice to push in the same direction. In other words, they need fewer defensive breakdowns, better support for defencemen, and a heightened sense of anticipation from the goaltenders.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say Montreal is at significant risk of missing the playoffs, as their odds are roughly 80%, but they will need to curb some of their bad habits down the final stretch of the season. This includes a lack of discipline, a recurring issue over the course of the last few years.<\/p>\n

Lineup Changes, Starting Goalie<\/p>\n

Head coach Martin St-Louis will turn to veteran netminder Samuel Montembeault versus the Ducks, however, it should be noted the Habs also play on Saturday, versus the Los Angeles Kings. This suggests we\u2019ll see rookie goalie Jakub Dobes in action within 24 hours.<\/p>\n

As for the forward lineup, we\u2019ll be treated to new combinations, or more accurately, older combinations that have a history of succeeding. Juraj Slafkovsky<\/a> was returned to the first line, a smart move when we consider no other player has done a better job alongside Nick Suzuki<\/a> and Cole Caufield<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll be replaced on the second line by Alex Newhook, who has done a great job providing secondary offence since returning to play from his long-term ankle injury. He has scored two goals and two assists in three games, and will look to maintain his excellent play with rookies Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov.<\/p>\n

Seeing as Slafkovsky is back in his ideal situation, Kirby Dach will be used on the third line, as a winger, with Jake Evans and Zachary Bolduc completing the trio. This means the only line that will remain unchanged will feature veterans Josh Anderson, Phillip Danault, and Brendan Gallagher.<\/p>\n

It remains to be seen whether Mike Matheson will be in uniform, as he missed Thursday\u2019s practice due to a maintenance day. If Matheson is unavailable, Arber Xhekaj is likely to return to the lineup.<\/p>\n

Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup<\/p>\n

Cole Caufield<\/a> \u2013 Nick Suzuki<\/a> \u2013 Juraj Slafkovsky<\/a><\/p>\n

Alex Newhook \u2013 Oliver Kapanen \u2013 Ivan Demidov<\/a><\/p>\n

Zach Bolduc \u2013 Jake Evans \u2013 Kirby Dach<\/p>\n

Josh Anderson \u2013 Phillip Danault \u2013 Brendan Gallagher<\/p>\n

Mike Matheson* \u2013 Kaiden Guhle<\/p>\n

Lane Hutson<\/a> \u2013 Noah Dobson<\/p>\n

Jayden Struble \u2013 Alex Carrier<\/p>\n

Samuel Montembeault<\/p>\n

Anaheim Ducks Projected Lineup<\/p>\n

Chris Kreider \u2013 Leo Carlsson \u2013 Cutter Gauthier<\/p>\n

Jeffrey Viel \u2013 Mason McTavish \u2013 Beckett Sennecke<\/p>\n

Alex Killorn \u2013 Ryan Poehling \u2013 Jansen Harkins<\/p>\n

Ross Johnston \u2013 Tim Washe \u2013 Ian Moore<\/p>\n

Jackson LaCombe \u2013 Jacob Trouba<\/p>\n

Olen Zellweger \u2013 Radko Gudas<\/p>\n

Pavel Mintyukov \u2013 Drew Helleson<\/p>\n

Lukas Dostal<\/p>\n

How To Watch The Habs Vs. The Ducks<\/p>\n

The Montreal Canadiens versus the Anaheim Ducks, Friday, March 6, 2026, will be aired<\/a> on TSN, and RDS. An instant recap complete with highlights will be available on Sportsnaut<\/a> as soon as the final whistle is blown.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"avatar\"<\/p>\n

\t\tMarc has been covering the Habs for over a decade. He previously worked for Journal Metro, The Athletic, The … More about Marc Dumont<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Montreal Canadiens (33-18-9) are set to face the Anaheim Ducks (34-23-3), with the puck drop scheduled for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":208046,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,19606],"class_list":["post-208045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-montreal-canadiens"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}