Canadiens @ Ducks: Game thread and lines

Game 61: Montreal Canadiens @ Anaheim Ducks

Start time: **9:00 PM EST / 6:00 PM PST**
In the Canadiens region: TSN2 (English), RDS (French)
In the Ducks region: K-COP13, Victory+
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+

The Anaheim Ducks pulled off a big midnight surprise on Friday by acquiring John Carlson from the Washington Capitals, securing one of the faces of the Capitals franchise even though Washington is still in the wild-card race in the Eastern Conference. He may be 36 and no longer in his prime, but Carlson left the Caps as their assist leader this season.

Fortunately for Montreal, he won’t be in tonight’s game, so no improvements have been made over what the Ducks approached the deadline with. That was still pretty good, however, and the Ducks are showing that they are a quality team filled with offensive talent. They’re now set to battle for the Pacific Division crown with the Vegas Golden Knights, even if they do have four fewer points than the Habs.

Montreal didn’t make such an addition to its lineup. For the second consecutive year, the roster remained the same through the deadline, though this year that wasn’t for a lack of trying. Kent Hughes hinted that he made a lot of progress on a significant trade that he plans to revisit in the summer, but Montreal is going to have to see out this season with what they have.

What they have tonight is Arber Xhekaj back in the lineup, and Martin St-Louis will need to make sure the three players he’s using on the bottom pairing are playing as well as possible because that’s what he has at his disposal until the end of the season. He’s leaned heavily on his top four, but with the schedule compressing for the final portion of the season, ice times will need to be spread more evenly to prevent the burnout the Habs carried into last year’s playoffs. This weekend alone there are two starts in less than 24 hours, so the coach needs accept that he has to use all of his players effectively, and it’s also up to all of Xhekaj, Jayden Struble, and Alexandre Carrier to prove that they can take some minutes from the core options.

Montreal Canadiens projected lineup

Scratched: Jayden Struble, Alexandre Texier, Joe Veleno
Injured: Patrik Laine

Anaheim Ducks projected lineup